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Infinite Speck
Fr. Paul Ward

Melville was right,

the sea is a magnet.

Why is man drawn to the sea?

Light pokes through a hole,

and only through a hole.

Water flows through an opening,

and only through an opening.

Drafts blow through cracks,

and only where there’s passage.

But what a strange thing, man,

who tries to take the whole sea,

and make it pass through is eyes;

who strives to fit the world in his mind,

and the all into his soul.

His eye’s horizon, his mind’s truth, his soul’s existence,

are all useless limits.

He can be on the inside

larger than on the outside.

Outside he’s a speck,

Inside he has an infinity to fill.

The sea is that hole, that opening, that crack.

Mirror of the sea!

My heart is right,

Infinity is the heart’s magnet,

it draws me because I’m an infinite speck.