Liber Caeli - Chapter 51

Verses

Verse 14

They call the distant one the Heavenly King Star, and the title is larger than the pale disk requires.

Verse 15

Heavenly kings, earthly kings, kitchen kings: names grow crowns faster than heads deserve them.

Verse 16

Yet there is dignity in the far blue world precisely because it does not administer us.

Verse 17

No tax descends from it. No decree survives the distance.

Verse 18

The true heavenly king may be the king who leaves you alone.

Verse 19

A court astrologer bowed to the planet. A carpenter continued repairing the roof.

Verse 20

Rain entered only the astrologer's house.

Verse 21

The carpenter later apologized for lacking reverence. The astrologer asked to borrow a bucket.

Verse 22

Thus heaven and practicality exchanged teachings.

Verse 23

At night the king-star remained beyond naked sight, present without demanding attention.

Verse 24

This is a refined form of power.

Verse 25

The loud ruler requires witnesses. The distant one permits forgetting.

Verse 26

I bow not to Uranus, but to whatever in me can see a title and remain ungoverned by it.