A very, very long time ago
(But not that long by some lights)
Earth was the center of the universe,
The sky was an inverted bowl
And the stars were little gaps
Where the light from heaven shined through.
If you took the world's strongest bow
And shot an arrow up as high as it would go
You might almost reach the heaven
That started just beyond the bowl.
But things are different today
(So learned scientists say):
The stars are not glimpses of celestial light,
But massive ***** of flaming gas;
And if the universe has a center,
It probably is not our little planet;
Even the fastest rocket we ever launched
Moving through space a billion years after this world ends,
Will be no nearer that heaven of yore
Than it was the day it blasted off.