Don't ask him to be the suffering giant,
bearing the weight of the world on his back.
Don't ask him to support us, carry us,
be our cradle and anchor, the seat of the earth.
He is not Atlas: don't ask him to hold up the sky.
It's easy to mistake the man for the future he points to,
but he isn't the Titan. He is only
an atlas, a book of maps,
showing us as best he can where we are,
the geography of where we must go.
showing us as best he can where we are,
the geography of where we must go.
