Gravity

GRAVITY

Gravity is pretty good stuff,
And Earth is lucky to have enough.
It’s sad how we take gravity for granted
When we should, in fact, be utterly enchanted.

When you’re flying high above the ground,
Good old gravity brings you down.
It keeps your oil in the frying pan
And out of the way of your ceiling fan.

It helps basketball players make their baskets,
And holds dirt on top of buried caskets.
When it rains it helps the ground absorb it;
And gives the moon its elliptical orbit.

Gravity makes weightlifting hard,
And maple leaves fall all over the yard.
It lets you toss coins to make decisions,
And keeps organs inside your surgical incisions.

Without gravity we’d be floating in space;
The clothes in our closets, all over the place:
Quicksand we could safely ignore,
But getting dressed would become a chore.

I don’t know where gravity comes from,
Or why it does what it does.
For me a satisfactory answer
Is simply just because.

(First published in Gilbert)