The vestibule to experience is not to
Be exalted into epic grandeur. These men are going
To their work with this idea, advancing like a school of fish through
Still water—waiting to change the course or dismiss
The idea of movement, till forced to. The words of the Greeks
Ring in our ears, but they are vain in comparison with a sight like this.
The pulse of intention does not move so that one
Can see it, and moral machinery is not labelled, but
The future of time is determined by the power of volition.
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on March 6, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.