Notes About The Poem
image from jooin.com
Poem written for “Ode to the Cosmos-Greetings from Earth,” poetry contest, John Anderson, sponsor, February 22, 2026.
ODE TO THE COSMOS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh you, who drift between the spinning stars,
who taste the dust of comet trails and drink
the silence of the void—pause on earth awhile.
Behold this sphere, sapphire streaked with gray aberdeen,
this garden hung in blackness, ripe with green.
The trees—oh, trees!—their arms alive with birds
whose throats distill the sunlight into chirping words.
The grass—a green tide that sways in whispering breeze,
the oceans—bluish-green, deep and restless, storms and ease~
And humankind—oh, flawed, fierce, fumbling bright~
we build towers that scrape your starry heels,
yet weep at sunsets, name our dogs Orbit at night,
and bury seeds like celestial appeals.
Do not mistake our wars for the whole story:
See also the baker’s hands dusted with moon,
the child who draws God’s face in divine glory,
and the bridge made of song stretched over a wound.
Yes, we humans are fevered children who build then destroy~
we laugh loud as thunderstorms, weep for both sorrow and joy.
We stitch stories from the patterns hidden in the stars,
and curious, reach, as you do now, for what lies far.
This world is vast yet small, noisy yet shy~
a masterpiece found nowhere else in the celestial sky.
Come closer, stardust kin; breathe the pollen rich air,
let the wind caress your body and muffle your hair.
Stay awhile on this marble of sapphire blue,
a world alive, both strange and true.
(total = 230 words)
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