CENTER
by Billy Collins
At the first chink of sunrise,
the windows on one side of the house
are frosted with stark orange light,
and in every pale blue window
on the other side
a full moon hangs, a round, white blaze.
I look out one side, then the other,
moving from room to room
as if between countries or parts of my life.
Then I stop and stand in the middle,
extend both arms
like Leonardo's man, naked in a perfect circle.
And when I begin to turn slowly
I can feel the whole house turning with me,
rotating free of the earth.
The sun and the moon in all the windows
move, too, with the tips of my fingers,
the solar system turning by degrees
with me, morning's egomaniac,
turning on the hallway carpet in my slippers,
taking the cold orange, blue, and white
for a quiet, unhurried spin,
all wheel and compass, axis and reel,
as wide awake as I will ever be.
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings...
~ John Gillespie Magee
More Poems
