Middle Finger to the Sky

in Florence, Italy,

the Museo Galileo

houses the middle finger of

Galileo Galilei---

enclosed in a glass case &

sticking upright at the sky,

it not-so-subtly signifies

the wonder that came in

insisting that the sky did not

abide by the dogmatic assertions

made in the big fat work of fiction---

instead,

following in the footsteps of

Philolaus, Heraclides Ponticus,

Aristarchus of Samos, Hypatia,

Ptolemy & Copernicus,

Mr. Galilei defended the idea that

this little rock we all reside on,

revolved around the sun &

not the other way around, as the

cunning catholic church

wanted us all to believe---

and though he was found

by the Inquisition to be

“suspect of heresy,”

forced to recant all that

he had said &

afterward was forced into house arrest

for the remainder of his day

on the condition that he would

read the psalms specific to him being a

bad little boy,

he is regarded as “the father of

modern science, physics & astronomy” &

is revered by anyone who seeks truth

through rigorous experiment &

the accumulation of evidence.