Articles/Essays – Volume 53, No. 3

Genesis Chiasmus

In the Big Ending,
My son used to say
When I read him the Genesis board book.
Which was perfect, I thought.
Such a start must surely have followed
An ending that was big.
What brought that ending on? And what
Gave it inherent magnitude?
What cataclysm preceded the birth
Of the universe?
I had no answers, nor do I now,
But I like questions better than answers, anyway.
Answers close the mind, but questions keep it open.
And I don’t want closure, not now nor then.
The universe,
Full of birth and death and disaster,
Its magnitude self-contained,
Without an end in sight:
What could follow such a start?
I think it’s perfect.
When I read him the Genesis board book,
My son used to say,
In the Big Ending.


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