The following haibun was first published in Issue #106, December 31, 2024, of Failed Haiku:
My elementary school library, second grade: A group of boys were giggling in the corner, hunched over a book. The librarian came over and snatched it away. I caught a glimpse of the cover as she put it on the cart: the swirled, amber form of the planet Venus.
While I loved the library and the wonders contained within books, I’d never known the library to contain something so subversive, so dangerous. What could be within that book that made her take it away?
The next week, after the book was reshelved and forgotten, I found it. The book discussed Venus’ formation, climate, geology, and the mythology behind the name. Toward the front was a full-page image of Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus.” Now I knew what was so enchanting: I had never seen such curves before.
The novelty of the painting, though, was quickly replaced by the stunning, full-color photographs of the second planet from the sun. Such colors, such windswept clouds, such quiet elegance, the planet framed by black, starry space. That book engendered a fascination with the planets that continues to this day.
The following poem was first published October 21, 2024 in Poets for Science. It’s about planet e, which orbits the star 55 Cancri, located in the constellation of Cancer. The planet is very close to its star, making it extremely hot. It’s also dense and full of carbon, meaning it might be a diamond planet. NASA has a lot of information about 55 Cancri e through their fictional Exoplanet Travel Bureau. They provide a guided tour and visualization of the surface.
The following poem was first published August 8, 2024 in Poets for Science. It’s about planets c and d, orbiting around the star Kepler-138. I have long been fascinated by exoplanets, that is, planets outside our Solar System. Because these planets are so far away, we know very little about them. Thus, I turn to the medium of poetry to imagine what these planets might be like.
Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Arizona State University/Carnegie Institution of Washington
The following poem was first published in the Summer 2024 edition of Altered Reality Magazine. It’s about a man living on the planet Mercury, trying to survive the extreme temperature oscillations. During the day, the surface temperature can reach 790 °F, while at night the temperature plummets to −270 °F. Interestingly, because of Mercury’s highly eccentric orbit, a solar day (the time it takes the sun to return to the same place in the sky) is two Mercury years long.
The first planet from the sun, spinning splendid, not outdone
by its neighbors orbiting in the solar sea
With temperatures most extreme, oscillating as its theme
from the scorching heights supreme to a darkness still and icy
From this world I cannot flee
From this madness never free
With no atmosphere to speak of, mercury rising, creatures sneak off
hiding from the soaring sun, searing blasted scree
Stretched across this barren plain, regolith gray and granite veins
a desert land where gravel reigns, absent the Almighty
Forget me not, Lord, this I plea
Save me for eternity
Temperatures are climbing higher in this heart of frost and fire
where a day lasts two long years by some strange decree
Where the sun sets once then twice, I’m trapped within this heated vise
my constant pining for some ice, I pray thee foolishly
The heat is boiling, naturally
But worse than cold? I disagree
The last of sunlight’s rays are gone, a year of coldness soon will dawn
I build a shelter, bundle up, then begin the long withdraw
A place of blackness with no moon, the stars across the sky are strewn
while I am bound to this cocoon, in a cave that’s bleak and blah
My teeth chatter, tight-set jaw
Jack Frost to my ears will gnaw
This cold sets in; it won’t let go. Around the campfire’s measly glow
to stay alive I take my leave and march my numb feet raw
So I start to weave and wander, while my sanity I ponder
I think I’ll backtrack over yonder, then I freeze in awe—
The sunlight breaks! Aha! Aha!
And so the ice begins to thaw
I can’t do this? Who’m I kidding? The stoic sun glares down, forbidding
I cover my face, give cry and chase, and fall on bended knee
Sunlight so white and burning bright, I plead for night: it isn’t right!
Please hear my plight, you ghostly fright! I beg you: can’t you see me?
The curtain closes on year three
This cycle will not let me be
The cold has come again, I say! I cannot last another day!
Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Alex Parker
The following poem was first published in the Summer 2024 edition of Altered Reality Magazine. It’s about the first man to visit Pluto, and the ensuing madness that comes from the incredible loneliness, darkness, and coldness of the dwarf planet. Upon landing, he creates his own mission and meaning, seeking out the moon Charon.
