The Dance of Reason and Rhyme

By Christian Horst

Under the light of the stars and the moon
A girl named Rhyme danced and sang to a tune
She sang of the way that the world came to be
When the wind kissed a sunbeam and bore him a tree
Whose boughs held up oceans, mountains, and seas

Watching nearby stood a scholar named Reason
Shaking his head at her naive depiction
From such a delusion, no sense could he make
Out onto the meadow, a step he would take
To cut off Rhyme’s song and correct her mistake

Raising a finger and eyebrow to match
Candidly Reason contested her facts
He droned on of vacuum fluctuations
And baryon acoustic oscillations
With nary a flare nor exaggerations

Over the features of Rhyme spread a grin
Laughing, she offered a warm hand to him
Reason considered and slowly accepted
Following step, but the path, he directed
And soon felt at ease, his derision deflected

Twirling in tempo, hand in light hand
The two sang a true verse in poetry strand
Of galaxies swept out in web-like smattering
Seeded in splendor by symmetry shattering
Long ere the moment of last scattering

Born between stars in a cradle of fire
From water and dust rose complexity higher
A gravity seed drew a world from stone rain
And on it amines joined with acids in chain
Heralding eons of life-giving flame

Meanwhile a crowd had collected before them
Watching the two with intent and adored them
Their song in its glory rose up to the sky
And the mountains and stars joined the rhythm in time
To the glorious Dance of Reason and Rhyme