A Sunbeam Journey
How big is this great universe?
How far do the stars traverse?
Let us think in terms of sunbeams’
Travel-time on the photon streams.
Beams seen from Pluto at night
Take five-and-a-half-hours at the speed of light.
Just think of crossing the Milky Way
In a rate-per-second of one-eighty-six K,
Would take thousands of years to span
This misty nebulae admired by man.
But it’s a mere fraction of size,
Galaxies seen in distant skies.
From our perspective down here on earth
Of the universe and its unknown girth,
Infinitely larger than it appears—
To cross it would take millions of years!
How can we, God’s created, keep pace,
With the enormity of trackless space?
Overwhelmed by its massive magnitude,
We simply savor it with awe-filled gratitude.
Writers and poets take special delight
In capturing these dazzling scenes at night
Transfixed with keyboard, or hand-held pen,
Mesmerized by galactic adrenalin.
Copyright © James Tate | Year Posted 2011
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