Five hundred twenty million light-years far
from Earth a meld of galaxies has spread
its multi-arms wide open ‘midst the star
Orion cluster in its wedded thread.
With limbs outstretched, in stellar reach enmeshed,
the astral realms seem grouped in fondness spree,
by constant star formation e’er refreshed,
as if united through affinity.
Mankind’s subsistence may revolve around
embrace of nature’s procreations rife
in cosmic regions or on earthly ground
a wakened sense of reverence for life.
That human beings be humane is key.
Could spheres celestial teach us harmony?
~ Harley White
* * * * * * * * *
The poem is in sonnet form…
Some sources of inspiration were the following…
‘The ethics of reverence for life makes no distinction between higher and lower, more precious and less precious lives. … How can we know what importance other living organisms have in themselves and in terms of the universe?’
~ Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965)
Explanation: The Hubble image shows LEDA 17532, a multi-armed galaxy merger some 520 million light-years away in the constellation of Orion.
And I-
Beyond the forest, beyond the mind
Came over-
Kandapara’s field
Before the evening puja
In the journey of this path to eternity.
The thought of ending awoke
Immense pressure of urine in the abdomen
Bubbles of words that have sprouted
In the mystic life of blue-necked bird.
Colored goods-
Splendid poems-
Wanders in brain,
But-
Saint's meditation on locusts
Daily poking of material thorns;
Remains-
Still remains-
The golden words remain airy
The treasure of the heart in strange language-
The fruit of hard nectar hangs;
Eternity hangs
As if the motionless
Strange pendulum.
Deepening music-melody of heart
Remains waiting –
Waiting for a suitable time
Extreme coition of Zeus-
The merry sound of reunion
The voice of indistinct desire
In the lap of the murmured waves
Sex-satisfied body sounds good
In the secret and thirsty part of Leda.
ugly though not
because of my
nose no i'm not
Cyrano maybe
only with words
to woe my Muse
trying to induce
her to fall
fall in love
with not me
but what's heard
or what words being
absurd to think thoughts
that may sway and swoon
her as if she were Leda and i
her swan
her
but my
swansong
all along leading
to this though not
ever my last words
for and because of her
but inspired from her in an
emailed
whisper
tango
I see her sway in a tango
young lithe
a brief moment without a care
alone beneath palms of night
far off shore lights answer
in step
a dreamy dip and bow
the sky reflects the glow reaching
for her hands
that flutter as moths
music is in her head
music only she knows
slipstreaming across gulfs of misery
the strings it attaches
pull her hips like a pendulum's sway
slow arcs of flame burn her pale skin
a stare of warm melted caress
brushes the face of the unseen
purple blossoms trail from her hair
leda pleases herself in the dark
dancing passion to a clouded moon.
I see the oven lit from the center of the earth
The heat forcing apart the egg's brittle shell
And into the liquid sea of wrath, like mad birds
Diving for the fish by gravity's default, the crust
In scraps dissolved as things fall apart. Another scene
The towers falling amidst the dismal grey.
Babel is more than confusion, much, much more
The citadels of the human heart that roar and roar
Where the wind thresh in them, the howling winds
Of our eternal emptiness. After the towers were gone
I remember clog after clog of protoplasmic ash
Moving frantically like bubbles when flood waters churn
And there was no distinction with humanity again,
For class and creed was dissolved in pandemonium and fear
And we were barely specters in the livid air.
Worse, worse, the final coming of the curse
The beast out of the waters bowels making travail
Then the silence, the dark barren chaos of silence
Water upon water and land and mountains gone
And the water like the great football of the cosmos
Shuddering like another Leda for deity's coming
And the fire muted, blind, crippled, annihilated
And the morning stars singing sweetly that new song.
Hush, the elegant predator
Ripples the shimmering grass
The almighty terminator
Flashes its claw, it's the last
Breath of mole. The furtive prayers
Whimper in the palate rafters.
ii
And in the great heart enclosing all
Which word did divine love prefer
Hawk, or rodent nibling at the wall?
Wisdom cuddles the predator.
The dripping claws, the crimson fang
Time brand the laws that right the strong.
iii
The eagle circling in the sky
Mesmerizes the frozen eye
And suddenly the thud of wings
Leda shudders and Mary sings.
iv
The adversary leaps, flies, crawls
And blood is in his trail
The tiger halts the dead lamb's palls
The hunter got his quail
And I beheld the sky all night
And wonder what is light?