“When a man desires ardently to know the truth, his first effort will be to imagine what that truth can be. He cannot prosecute his pursuit long without finding that imagination unbridled is sure to carry him off the track. Yet nevertheless, it remains true that there is, after all, nothing but imagination that can supply him an inkling of the truth. He can stare stupidly at phenomena; but in the absence of imagination they will not connect themselves in any rational way. Just as for Peter Bell a cowslip was nothing but a cowslip, so for thousands of men a falling apple was nothing but a falling apple; and to compare it to the moon would by them be deemed ‘fanciful.’” — Charles Sanders Peirce, The Scientific Attitude and Fallibilism (1896)
Of Isaacs and Newtons
(another rather basic sonnet format: abbacddceffegg)
In "His" own image “God” made human kind,
some say, when clearly men made “God” in theirs
and then proclaimed themselves “His” lawful heirs
in stories over centuries refined
by priests and prophets joined into a caste
who claimed The Unseen Power spoke through them;
that they, alone, “His” righteous wrath could stem
if men ate apples, Lucifer's repast.
Or, “knowledge,” bane of ignorant belief,
begins with doubt and leads one to inquire
and theorize: how best can one aspire
to live a useful life, however brief,
and leave as legacy a Truth profound
about an apple falling to the ground.
Michael Murry, "The Misfortune Teller," Copyright © 2021