Unthrilled Poems | Examples

Nova

(The supernova observed from
Earth in 1572 was a major event
in human thought, because if
stars could explode, then they
couldn't be eternal lamps,
hung out by God.)

The cold stars glimmered 
where they hung 
in their accustomed places 
on the underside of heaven. 

The imperceptible gavotte 
proceeded up aloft: 
those little silver lamps, 
dipping or climbing, 
went about their business 
oblivious of human time. 

A scholar of the firmament, 
incurious, unthrilled, 
at ease with the inevitable, 
the trueness of meridians, 
stared up, unflinching. 

The milky smudge of Cassiopeia 
swam into his lens's narrow field, 
and our student of the permanent now saw 
that which he knew he could not see. 

It caused no greater shock 
than a snarl of irritation. 

We always miss the moment. 

The quiet glory of that tiny cloud 
of far-off starstuff 
marked the noiseless passing 
of some unknowable sun. 

And though the watcher did not know, 
he was party, too, 
to a monumental dying.