Antiquarians saw art in two dimensions,without

perspective depth. Similarly the world around them.

The earth can only be flat, they said.

They sought confirmation in the Holy Word,

and even the church blessed this notion.

(Who were priests, after all, but men of only two dimensions?)

 

Nay-sayers set bravely out to find the edge,

the place where two dimensional maps cautioned there were dragons.

Human eyes are made to view in 3-D.

They sailed three dimensional ships and visited three dimensional lands,

and never came to the place where they actually fell off.

(Or if they did, they didn’t notice. We will never know.)

 

Today we perceive the earth and other celestial bodies

in 3-D and know that the universe has no ending

that can ever be reached. At least for human eyes.

Grasshoppers, beetles, fish, horses and deer might tell another story.

We can stare off into the universe as ancient astronomers did

And know our spherical earth is surrounded by other spheres.

 

If it were not, and someone unexpectedly discovered that

our world is flat, who wouldn’t drop everything and rush

out to the edge to look? We would still see stars and planets, but

as saucers floating out and under and over, becoming almost invisible

if they tilt on their sides. We could watch them slide in a cascade

into black holes, unsure if dragons or the lost third dimension would appear.