image from the guardian.com
The Kindred of Nebula
Adrift in the sky,
An everlasting beauty
Hindered by the breaking dawn
--Nsiki Gwala.
So much to
struggle with as we stare
into a night sky,
on the desert,
or in the mountains
where stars bloom so thick
that the darkness recedes
to make room for their brilliance,
as the mechanism of our soul engine
begins to thrump like a Viking horn,
thrilled & fueled by the universal
light show.
You say that the shining jewels of the heavens
are held up by tender titans, God’s squad of
worker bees--who are sun-blind in daylight,
can only see after Sol has tangoed below
the horizon, bringing day to that
other hemisphere.
You say that you do not believe in ghosts, & yet here
they are; planets & suns & satellites
long dead; imploded, exploded, burned out
in spectacular fireworks a billion universes away,
because light itself, one of the fleetest things we
are aware of, is in fact so slow, so lethargic within
the godhead schematic, we find ourselves
worshipping ghosts, celebrating the deceased.
We are but dust mites
on grains of salt
endeavoring
to fathom quantum physics,
just sentient carbon units
aspiring to soar way beyond
our minuscule galaxy
to reach out, to contact
other forms of life;
God’s other children--our cosmic cousins.
Yet, isn’t it ironic that it takes a humble Jesuit pope
to remind us of both our inherent humanity & our
manifest stupidity, scolding us for molesting the earth
& each other.
Astronomy is
Not new, but our perceptions
of the stars could be.
Glenn Buttkus
Posted over on Real Toads
influenced by Kerry's high school student's poems, specifically Nsiki Gwala over at somewhere i have never traveled
11 comments:
Well, goodness. You had me at this:
"So much to
struggle with as we stare
into a night sky"
Outstanding, Glenn! Love this.
I was looking at some of the award-winning astronomical photos of the year earlier this evening so you poem seems an extension of that view I have had of the heavens. You have described man's relationship to the heavens so very well, i feel enlightened and enriched by this poem. Thank you for your participation in this challenge
I love the sense of wonder and magic in this. You brought out a new layer of poetry in star gazing.
This is a gorgeous poem- one to read again and again and each time discover more. The last stanza is a nice slap on the wrist.
Yes, truly looking into space we are reminded of the past. So much humbleness to realise our minisculeness ;-)
Ghosts have a lot to show us, when we are able to see them. You cover a great deal of ground here. Quite a thoughtful piece.
Hey Glenn, it is so interesting how scale shifts here--big and small, humble and wide-ranging--very thoughtful and hopefully there is a message that will be taken up. Thanks. k.
Your reading is so enjoyable. I love the science and tales of gods you weave into this piece...really expansive as it should be with the topic at hand...huge! Brilliant.
tender titans ... Enjoyed the reading after I read through it. Always fun to see where the writer puts the emphasis. I also liked how you brought it current with mention of our humble Pope...
I. Love. This poem so much!!!!!!!!!!! Brilliant! Love the scolding Pope. He tells it like it is.
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