GALILEO CENTERING
by Richard Aston
A pendulum fixed to a cathedral ceiling,
a chandelier, triggered in Galileo the idea of a clock
running independent of water flow,
as it beat more regularly than his heart,
which, like ours, was susceptible to arrythmias.
This insight, perhaps, made his heart skip a couple of beats,
a sure sign that he had another project in mind
to start and, in his style, complete.
Now when our hearts suffer AV block,
we can be saved by the others
who took up on Galileo’s idea
and designed implantable pacemakers that beat independently
and can drive a heart with just ten microjoules of electricity,
delivered by tined steroid-tipped wires,
in perfect step with the swinging chandelier
that distracted wayward Galileo
from centering on the ethereal.
Copyright © 2013 by Richard Aston.