Best Space Poems
To appreciate our planet,
begin with its snowcapped mountains;
where sunbeams morph crystals of ice
into gems of glistening light.
See pink clouds hover in the skies
afloat on a vista of blue;
and a setting sun smear scarlet
onto puffs of marshmallow white.
And jungles at its equator
create a sash of vibrant greens;
while burnt sands ripple Earth's deserts,
with shifting dunes of tans and creams.
See Earth's leafy forests change from
deciduous to evergreen;
and tundra pitted with blue lakes,
fade to stretches of virgin snow.
And volcanoes erupt in flame
spewing plumes of ebony smoke;
lava bleeding from gaping wounds,
while giving birth to molten earth.
See azure and aquamarine
waves crested with white foamy froth;
and two tilted poles, capped in ice,
sparkle like crystalline jewels.
View it from afar, as it twirls
within the vacuum of space;
like a phantasmagorical
cerulean marble; called Earth.
Entering the doorway through my heart
Following the nuance of space
Allowing expansion ~ mystery ~ and curiosity
To guide me into realms of spiritual awakening
Journeying through moments in time
Filled with opportunities
To appreciate and cherish
To express gratitude
To be connected to the forces
Of nature and humanity
Together we take flight
Guided by white hawks
Silently lifting off
Into darkened skies
Kissed by gray hues
Alighting on silken clouds
Transporting us higher
A deep inhale as gentle breezes
Tickle my earlobes and caress my soul
My heart is open ~ expanding ~ gaining insight
Exposed
My tears flow freely
I allow the pain and suffering to become me
As I focus on illumination and helping others
With embracing arms and heart alive
Calling out to our elders and animal spirits
To join in our collective dance
The soft wind carries us
We float and fly and glide
Entering the realm of light
Sunbeams vibrating at the edges of perception
A fuzzy twinkling as our eyes excite
Riding magic cloud carpets
Above ocean’s breast
Gazing down
The beauty becomes us
Gold light rays skate on undulating waves
Illuminating tide’s glimmering foam
A waltz of light and sound
Briny majesty
Luminous shafts dance and sway
In a lovers embrace
Across veridian waves
Passionately singing out
Becoming one
Our voices ~ melodies
Songs of our ancestors
Ballads from distant shores
Past and present
Reveal themselves in
Tender haunting notes
Arriving on mist’s fingertips
Hoovering close to Mother Ocean’s surface
We hear her heartbeat
Lap lap lap ... bubbles ... breath
Surface foam breaking
She appears in nature’s coat of shiny black
A regal humpback
A tranquil Goddess welcoming us
We ride upon this graceful giant
As she whispers her secrets
Feeling her slow movement
Through watery depths
Turning gently ~ moving up and down
We welcome her strength as
Turquoise tides caress us
Guided by celestial navigation .... we ride
Gazing up at the sparkling stars
We listen to the collective heartbeat of eternity
One breath
One exhale
Together
Sometimes you have to let
the morning have its way,
set out its wide sunlit spaces
like a tablecloth upon your silence,
speak to you softly in the sound
of leaves, bright with the flush
of spring. There is much to tell,
the stories of its winter dreaming,
waking to a warming sun,
desires erupting in flower
and fruit.
As a child I listened
to the almond trees clack
their naked limbs all winter long
until late august when the first
blossoms broke into the chilly air
with their white whispers
and perfumed breath hushed out
of pink throats. It was my eucharist,
trees donning their green vestments
plump with promises.
I must make space in myself
to receive the sacraments of creation,
have a reverence for what comes
forth to speak a name
in all that is born, lives and dies
and reflects a beauty
to which I can be blind to
in the bloat of myself.
Many eons passed on Earth, who only saw your face
Untouched your virgin body, floating there in space
Waxing, waning, gibbous, crescent, quarter, full and new
Selene the Greeks would call you; Diana, Caesar knew
Who would brave the ether, who would cross the void
To agitate the tranquil sea you had so long enjoyed
To softly kiss your ravaged face and return to tell the tale
Of Luna's hidden secrets beneath her powdered veil?
Three heroes took the final quest aboard their fiery steed
In Apollo's silver chariot proceeding with godspeed
Three days and nights they voyaged to their opalescent goal
On Earth they watched and worried in the halls of ground control
One held the craft outside the reach of Luna's jealous grip
While Eagle's talons cradled two who risked the final trip
They timidly approached her through the shadowy abyss
Luna waited patiently and received the Eagle's kiss
Nations watched and cheered on Terra's distant shore
As one man finally took a step no one ever took before
In our hearts and in our minds his words will be enshrined
"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
As we speculate the clear evening sky
Iridescent with gems, which we call stars,
Alive in our hearts stir the endless dream
To unwind and solve the puzzles of Earth-
The unfathomed vastness of cosmic space.
Since time began, this has been our great wish.
Because of this strong and enduring wish
Our minds are forever drawn to the sky,
Where in the blankness of great timeless space
Drift all the planets, our Sun, Moon, and stars.
And amidst it all, our minuscule Earth-
Seems lost in this cloudy, galactic dream.
But humans will always anxiously dream
Of someday achieving this inborn wish;
Discovering answers about the Earth;
Exploring the unknown realms of the sky
To find our way among planets and stars,
Erasing boundaries of time and space.
What truths does it hold, this infinite space?
Will answers always be- vague as a dream?
Do other planets with suns as our stars
Have beings like earthlings who hope and wish?
Do they gaze at their vast eternal sky;
Know of our galaxy, Sun, Moon, and Earth?
Though we're secure on this great mammoth Earth,
When we contemplate the vastness of space,
We know we are only dust in the sky
And our importance dissolves like a dream,
For matter not how we wonder and wish
We are naught amid the planets and stars.
Gems on black velvet, our heaven of stars;
So close they all seem to mortals of Earth;
So often we stare at them- make a wish-
Yet billions of light-years measure the space
In between. When will we wake from our dream?
Solve all the puzzles that darken our sky?
Twinkle on, great sky, with your rhinestone stars-
Continue, sweet dream, for beings of Earth!
Eternal as space, is our hope and wish!
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Peering beyond reach of human capacity
I revolve around the sun in a solar orbit,
Looking deep in space for origins of bygone
Going way beyond anyone has ever gone,
Exploring unknown world of astronomy
Searching light from first stars and galaxies
Traversing back in time where it all began,
Forming our universe after the Big-Bang.
Some 13.6 billion light-years my eyes reach,
Studying evolution, formation of galaxies,
Vast, colorful, mysterious shapes and sizes,
Eying origins of life and planetary systems
Probing, discovering, unfathomable infinity,
For one light-year equals six trillion miles~
A feat, only for the confidence of audacity.
I capture images spectacular to every sight,
Viewing light that is invisible to human eye
Locating nebulae, gas planets, dust clouds,
Collision of galaxies where stars are born,
Traversing back in time where it all began,
Probing galactic universe~ terra incognita.
No longer a phantasy, I am real as can be,
An eye of science and a mind of curiosity,
Intellectual tenacity and proof of ingenuity,
In acumen and wisdom of Astrophysicists,
I am the bold vision of infrared astronomy,
I am the flight vying hypnotic destination
Buoying on wings of scholarly inspiration.
Much is yet undone, for I have just begun,
Orbiting diligently until my work is done,
Until dreams become reality of my mission.
For insight into creation, I am the ray of hope~
I am the James Webb Space Telescope.
August 28, 2022
Placed 1st: This or That, Vol 13 Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
Title chosen: Terra Incognita
Note: NASA launched James Webb Telescope on December 25, 2021.
Images are being released starting July 12, 2022.
You can view the spectacular images at: Webb.nasa.gov
Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners
European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency.
When Do We Start To Live
Collaboration poem: Space Cadet and Darren White
Voice: Wesley C.
How do I know we’ve lived?
If you’re certain then tell me when?
When? When have I lived?
Do I live now?
Is it the tap-tap of my hand against the window;
the drum played by my fingers on the chair?
Is it the slowed back-beat, or the snare drum speed,
under your hand at rest,
on my chest,
in this 2 AM discotheque.
How do we know we’ve lived?
Is it a faint notion, or
movement in my legs:
A lotus reed on my calves
I'd never felt until it tickled me?
How do I know I’m still alive?
Is it when the ice-blue swaddles
me in abyss, of
inky darkness?
Or when I’m a borne flutter of this butterfly
crinkled away in my chest
cavity?
Or as sun rays play
with light and words that tumble,
crumble, and fall to pieces,
in their own stubborn way,
here,
on this paper?
Is it found in a friend’s voice
that pulls me from dark,
penetrates a radiance inward,
up from me, out,
to my face,
ablaze with why I'm here to exist?
Butterfly Nebula
Far away in the night
A sky full of stars
A song full of notes
A story full of words
And, most importantly…
A poem, full of Light!
I can not leave a picture, but if I could it would be the first one. #1 at the top of the list. The Butterfly Nebula. It is lovely indeed. Although they are all incredible. Thank you for sharing them.
When I gaze far off into the night sky
The chaos is not pleasing to the eye.
Seems there was never an overall plan
When the beginning of time began.
I don’t mean to sound so high and mighty
But the stuff up there’s not very tidy.
Yes, there are luminous constellations
But it needs cosmic configuration.
When figuring out just how to plan it
I started on the jumbled up planets.
It’s not a stretch to say they need sorting
And here are a few things I’m purporting.
First I thought they should be alphabetized
Or at least ordered according to size.
They could be arrayed by number of moons
But I think that’s getting too picayune.
Sure, there is a listing of other things
Like arranging them by their colored rings.
Or by what lie’s hidden beneath the dust
That entirely coats their outer crust.
I settled and placed them by dimension
As said plan will cause the least contention.
Starting with the sun, since that big old orb,
Can’t help but lead; being so self absorbed.
Petite planet Pluto, this time is first
Mercury’s next, then trodden Mars comes third.
After that Venus, followed by our Earth
Which were in that order, now they’re by girth.
Let’s jump up to Neptune, then Uranus
Which happens to rhyme with Ignoramus.
Yes fancy Saturn, you go next in line
Jupiter’s last, since so easy to find.
Let’s continue this celestial tale
By systematizing the scene, broad scale.
We’ll journey further than Venus and Mars
To coordinate the world of stars.
We can array each pulsar by brightness
Which doesn’t interest me the slightest.
Or chart them based on their distances from us
Though why on Earth quibble with all that fuss?
Instead we’ll do what the globe mappers did
And arrange every star on a grid,
We’ll plot a rough draft on large graph paper
Like olden times, by light of a taper.
Now, you can choose a square and stick by it.
Worry free of the old cosmic riot.
Where each and every star is viewed best
Whether gazing to north, south, east or west.
The sky is looking much better by now
And all the skeptics will have to avow.
That once you know how to rework matter
Like here on earth, it’s the size that matters.
In the middle of the Universe, I stand-
my mind attempting to comprehend
the scope and wonder
exposed upon these printed pages
within this book of astronomy and space.
One hundred billion galaxies-
one hundred octillion stars-
trillions of them are suns like ours;
unfathomable to my human mind.
Through these pages,
in the middle of the universe, I stand
in awe, and ask-
Where are you Earth?
I see our galaxy, our Milky Way- full-color
on this wondrous special page,
and I almost miss that little speck-
that speck, our world,
with cars and people bustling here and there-
bridges, trains, skyscrapers, jets,
blue oceans with majestic ships;
the wonders of our age-
our great, important, busy, busy world.
Where are you Earth
amid this cloud of dust?
I find you on this page with straining eyes,
so lost among the stars, the planets, moons-
one hundred billion galaxies
one hundred octillion stars—
My home- my Earth,
a little speck,
a microscopic grain-
caught up in cosmic winds- with all the rest.
She slants her shining, golden glance
Across desert, mountains, rivers, plants
Greets her rising, true romance
In the purpling, opposite skies
Her lunar love, her heart’s delight
Soars to ever darker height
For each, the other’s perfect, right
It’s on their wings time flies
She seems asleep within the night
Yet always, somewhere, she’s brilliant, bright
Motionless in constant flight
Each day its own surprise
They’ll never meet – there’s not a chance
These partners in eternal dance
Of darkness, light – they both enhance
The world with their long goodbyes
***
As their crescent waltz achieves crescendo
Sans artifice or innuendo
Young children start to play Nintendo
While adults stir and rise
Bacteria, too small for human eyes
engage their fight for life within our midst,
so unaware of Earth's gigantic spies
with microscopes and slides, who co-exist.
And tiny fish, contained by walls of glass,
oblivious to all that thrives outside,
in worlds of colored sand and plastic grass
know not the ocean's roar or rhythmic tide.
Too, we the wisest creatures of life's sea,
who travel well the wonders of our home,
are blinded by the endless mystery
of space and time- horizons we can't roam.
What great dimension of the vast beyond
makes Earth a microscopic vagabond?
March 14, 2015
Premiere Contest: 2022 Poetry Marathon
Mile 4 Poetry Contest
I savor my precious, quantum bliss;
the vibration of the strings, echo Heaven’s kiss.
In parallel worlds, are parallel lives;
With them, I can identify.
I’ve passed through, many walls of stone;
through countless lives, I have roamed.
I’ve tasted every experience,
I found, that some, I still lament.
A molecular epiphany, I have received.
My life’s frustration, is appeased.
Pure energy, is what we are
and we can visit, every star.
Quantum souls are limitless;
join me and pursue your bliss.
Daybreak slipping through these champagne curtains
Red silk; twined aneath crimsons sheets; awakening....
This afterglows mornings dew; her wet moist kisses
Soft sunrise and whom can deny such love; about her
Kittens den; purrr; feed me this need of your heavenly
Breed; cranberry breast amid sweet sublime; suckling
Her thirsting poetics child; a virgins verse as capturing
Venus aside strokes swirling atop sanguines canvas....
Splashed in maroons colours of a daybreak; pink silk
Aneath sheets slipping through tomorrows champagne
Curtains parting their purrring; brushing this her beauty
Within a moist dews afterglow; intoxicatings sweet, wet
*********************************************
...."Red Rums Kiss * 'Strawberries And Cream'" ~
Sir Richard Branson - Rocket Man
There was a boy who had not fared well at school
Years gone by and no one could call him a fool
Now a business tycoon and philanthropist
Virgin records, first venture on his checklist.
The owner of the Virgin Group he became
An entrepreneur with stand out claim to fame
Though it was not always a smooth sailing ride
He took the failures and mishaps in his stride.
Sir Richard Branson, born in nineteen fifty
Dyslexia made school a difficulty
That didn’t stop him chasing his ambition
He was determined to follow his vision.
A star in the making he just would not quit
Nothing and no one would stand in way of this
Each successful venture led to another
Outer space was the quest above all other.
Exploring space travel Sir Richard wished to do
Virgin Galactic has made the dream come true
This year SpaceShipTwo made its first test flight
The six on board had the journey of their life.
Sir Richard’s virtue is a lesson to all
His charitable kindness defines his call
We have to admire this boundless superman
May he continue for as long as he can.
It goes to show however humble life starts
Determination can fly one to the stars.
12th October 2021