metaphors

a tilted planet, orbiting its sun
has days that wax and wane throughout the year
a  normal axis sets all=one
a cosmic bicycle in one fixed gear
a metaphor for life's growths and decays
implicit as each night brings on more chill
aligning dimming eyes with waning days
as aching limbs protest to climb each hill

but cyclic functions come around again
each Spring's rebirth's as sure as Fall's decline
so poets sketch an afterlife for men
a lot like this, but of inverted sign
conjecture's free to roam where data's null
to think it's settled fact, one must be dull