Άνθρωπος (Anthropos)

I learned something today;

the ancient Greek word for ''man''

is άνθρωπος.

And what I didn't know

was what it meant.

''The one that looks up''.

But are we still?

Looking up

to the sky,

the sea of stars,

this web of chances

caught,

like flies,

waiting to be plucked,

to be saved

from the claws

of our ignorance.

Do we not

avert our eyes

from the sunlight,

rather than bathe in it?

Maybe those first men,

that always looked up,

maybe they did try.

Maybe they spread 

their arms 

towards them.

But, somehow,

their feet

were too  steady

on the ground.

And one day,

or better,

one night,

one of them quit.

Stopped.Gave up.

Settled.

What a Pandora's Box

of new words for them!

Do you,

dear poet,

still look up,

sometimes?

Do you follow,

this inner instinct

to stretch your arms

as well?

I know I do.

Author's Note

PLease let me know if you can read the greek characters