Well
it was April 30th when I wrote the first one, but in a flash I had
to write the second one and I’ll be posting now just after midnight….oh well.
It was a good month! Here is a super simple poem to end on and then one of my
signature rambles in the moment. The month always goes so fast chronicling it
this way in poetry. I write a lot even when it isn’t April, I just don’t post
them all.
We
went to the UW Planetarium tonight for a presentation on the stars and planets. It
was nice as it was a special night where families with autistic children could
come in for free and hear this presentation and it was supported by the Autism
Center there. So it was noisy and had a lot more little ones than I expected,
but most of the kiddos were into it and that was fun to see.
I
wish I’d had paper with me as I was thinking of doing a poem on the planets,
but it had melted away by the time I arrived at home. Instead, I just wrote
what I see at night here on a really great star night and then a bit of observation during our "Night Event Under the Stars".
Seeing Stars
When
I look into the night sky
I
see slurry of cumulus
Blurring
out the moon
And
all that might be hidden there
I
stare intently searching the heavens
For
a light or glimmer of life forms
That
could be starring back at me
There
is a small break
And
as one that spake
A
new creature tongue
There
tenderly hung
Is
one tiny particle of light
Shining
so bright
Against
the odds
Of
obscuring obsoleteness
In
it I pin my wish
Of
another point of light
Laser
beaming through the blackness
And
coming up for air
That
I might too
It
happens like the dawn
Slowly
the clouds pull
Away
the magic curtain
Revealing
a most grand treasure
Spread
as King Midas might do
Extravagantly
scattered pearls
Lining
a vast ocean floor
I
swim in the richness
Filling
up my soul
Pouring
over them
From
my small spot
But
feeling so gigantic
With
the universe
And
all the galaxies
Mapped
out before me
It Happens Under His Stars
Dark
eyes and tiny face
Looking
up into a projection of space
You
cry when they move
And
when it stops, you are mesmerized
My
son is leaning on me
Hearing
the noise of little babies and toddler screeches
He
digs into my shoulder
Squeezing
my hand
Straining
to hear what
Is
being presented about Jupiter
I
stroke his smooth, soft locks
Hoping
my heartbeat will drown out
The
sea of tension rising in his body
As
the running little boy and sobbing babe
Peak
in intensity
He
hunkers down against me
Indeed
finding my steady beat
This
seems to defeat the cacophony
And
he sits up ready to comment on Uranus
But Pluto is the one he has questions about
As
the knowledgeable grad student
Called
it once a planet and then not
My
son gravitated towards
“What
is the criterion please for a planet?”
The
student didn’t really have a good answer
This
made my son squirm
like
there were ants literally in his pants
He
wanted more facts to the matter
Hard
as the planet’s surface
To
chase the uncertainty of this place away
To
paint a sure picture of what is in space
And
tune out the other noises
That
crumble his inside structure
Facts
hold it all up
Like
steel girders that
Are
the bones of the building
Are
inside his brain
But
run all the way to his toes
There
was another little boy
That
was competing for knowing
All
the facts by the naming the planets
And
what they were composed of
The
other little professor complained
That
my boy was too quick to answer
So
my boy stopped answering
And
pulled my arm tighter around him
As
he bit his left index finger knuckle hard
As
if to say, “I can’t help it, sorry.”
I
didn’t want him to be quiet
I
wanted him to keep going and going
Like
when it is just the three of us
And
he is telling us parents
Every
single thing he knows about
The
universe, history, weather, or video games
It
is his to dispense
With
a sense of himself
He
can feel himself in space this way
It
helps him to know he is really here
And
that his opinion and knowledge matters
No
labels, no barriers, and no one else to tell him differently
He
can see it all at once
The
big, huge, gigantic picture
His universe on the inside
That
tumbles out daily
In
facts, figures, and fitful flights of fancy
It
is freedom of the highest order
His
vast galaxy
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