while fighting sleep,
their eyes half closed,
half watching sheep,
the shepherds might
have turned away
and rested till the break of day:
Why risk the night,
the winds that blow?
Why risk the way
we do not know?
Disturbed by the light
that marked the sky
where dark alone
once met the eye,
the magi might
have paused to test
the wisdom of their star-born quest:
Why risk the night,
the winds that blow?
Why risk the way
we do not know?
Disturbed by the light
that draws us past
the world we grip
so hard and fast,
we might delay
our starting out
until we answer every doubt:
Why risk the night,
the winds that blow?
Why risk the way
we do not know?
except–
except our hearts
refuse to slow
and every beat insists we go.
"Disturbed by the Light" by Thomas H. Troeger, from Above the Moon Earth Rises, © Copyright 2002 by Oxford University Press.
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