Book Recommendations Poetry 12 Poems That Consider the Cosmos From the Moon landing to Plutos orbit‚ these poems explore space and all of our weird human feelings. By Holly Kybett Smith | Published on April 10‚ 2024 Photo by Daniel lvasd [via Unsplash] Comment 0 Share New Share Photo by Daniel lvasd [via Unsplash] For as long as weve been observing the night sky and the movement of planets and stars‚ humans have been curious about the other worlds that might be out there. Were adventurous creatures: we like to explore‚ and we like to make friends‚ too. This month‚ Ive selected twelve poems to carry you on a journey through space.Three two one liftoff!Zero Gravity by Eric GamalindaThe dunes were litlike ancient silk‚ like clandestine pearl.In the constant lunar night this luminescencewas all we hoped for. A creature unto itselfPublished thirty years after the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969‚ this poem takes a reverent look at the event through the eyes of a child. Possibility and longing suffuse each stanza‚ alongside a forward-reaching nostalgia.Model Solar System by Michael MesicMechanical and precise‚The tiny shapes revolve‚Orange or blue or red‚One speckled with blue and green‚Each at the end of a wireInvisible as threadBy contrast‚ Mesics poem invites the reader to look down on our solar system from above‚ the way a child might‚ creating a model for class. From this simultaneously childlike and godlike angle‚ one unveils the secret mechanisms that govern the workings of space; the tiny lightbulb inside the sun; the wires holding everything together. It is no less wonderful.Heliocentric by Keith S. WilsonWho could love youlike this? Who else will sew you in the stars?Who better knows your gravity and goesotherwise‚ to catastrophe?Ive schemed and promisedto bring you back a ringfrom SaturnThis painful yet poignant poem tells the story of an astronaut caught between their beloved on Earth and the siren-song of outer space. It brims with love‚ and yearningthe yearning of fingertips brushing whats just slightly out of reach.Sunflower Astronaut by Charlie EspinosaFor months I have studied the sun. My head of bracts tracked its arc like an antenna.Now I am a sun‚ with a yellow crown and a hot core of disk florets and pollen.I‚ too‚ emit signals to orbiting bodies who come and go with fertile stardustSunflower Astronautwith its accompanying illustration by Romie Stottadopts a truly unique perspective on space travel‚ written in the voice of a sunflower seed.Life Centered Around by Moon Bo Young (trans. Hedgie Choi)Its space and space smiles like a doll whose neck is the only part that turns. When Europa thinks of space it thinks of the year 5000 or just before the year 5000 or just after the year 5000.Like Wilson in Heliocentric‚ Moon Bo Youngs prose poem uses the solar system as set dressing for a profound exploration of human emotion. In this instance‚ the narrator is not caught between two warring desires but trapped in a codependent orbit‚ like Europa around Jupiter.Wide Shining Craters by Jace DeAngeloThere is wateron Europaand I am so thirsty.I knew the moment it mentioned Laika that this poem would hurt to read‚ and I wasnt wrong. A meditation on the sacrifices made in the name of scientific progress‚ Wide Shining Cratersasks important questions about who is deemed disposable enough to sacrifice‚ and who makes those choices.Pluto Shits on the Universe by Fatima AsgharIt is February 7th‚ 1979 and my skin is morecopper than any sky will ever be. More metal.We reach now to the edge of our solar system‚ where Pluto looms defiant‚ forever a symbol of self-determination in the face of arbitrary‚ externally-enforced categories. In this lively‚ profanity-laden poem‚ Asghar gives Pluto a voice‚ imagining the erstwhile planet as a rulebreaker‚ jubilant in its flouting of the universes laws.Some Facts Are Difficult to Discuss by M.E. SilvermanMy fathers favorite nebula‚ Lemon Slice‚ is named after his favorite dessert. His mother made it from scratch‚ using lemon zest and juice from two fresh lemonsBeyond the solar system‚ there are nebulae where space dust glitters; the building blocks of the universe. Silverman writes of one such nebula in this prose poem‚ and even though the nebula in question is far away4500 lightyears away‚ to be precisehis words bring it straight back home.Doppler Effect by Lydia ODonnellYour light is the crunch of dead leavesCold‚ your rich light looks like a hearthIts not that you want to be dimOther scientists believe youre habitableWith its experimental structure‚ its almost-duelling verses‚ Doppler Effectis an experience to read. It follows a researchers journey to determine whether life can exist on planets orbiting distant stars.I Roll Up to the Club in a Gundam by Eric Wangtell everyone that its laser swords are just giant glow-sticks. tell the valet to take it for a spin. tell myself that spacesuits are hip club attire. whats more sci-fi than a gundam is that‚ somehow‚ all the friends ive ever had are here.Meanwhile‚ this short prose-poem offers a snapshot into a glittering sci-fi future where a gaggle of space travellers reunite to pass an evening partying. Even though they are far-flung‚ galaxy-traversing adventurers‚ their lonelinessat only being able to see each other once in a blue moonechoes the familiar loneliness we feel on Earth‚ when we grow up and all our friends move away to different towns.Earth Light: I by Lynn XuDoors open and shut.Weve come to the place where nothing shines.I hear eternityIs self-forgettingOur penultimate poem is brief but dark‚ taking its narrators to the very edge of what is known. How to fill the endless‚ stretching silence?Everywhere That Universe by John CiardiEven wisteria‚ sufficiently looked at‚will do for a galaxy. Nebulaecoil and flare on the trellisesFor our final poem‚ we descend back to Earth. The Universe is boundless‚ full of possibilities‚ but so is our own planet‚ right here at our fingertips. Look around with new appreciation. What do you see?[end-mark]The post 12 Poems That Consider the Cosmos appeared first on Reactor.