Fern G. Z. Carr
A Window into the Past
The universe suckles
nascent galaxies
and cradles dying stars
in its bosom
reflecting history
in its radiance –
limited
by the speed of light
celestial bodies are observed
as they appeared in the past,
their images time-delayed –
beheld as they were,
not as they are:
the Sun as it appeared
eight minutes ago,
a four-year-old portrait
of Proxima Centauri
and a snapshot
of the Andromeda Galaxy
two and a half million years ago.
The cosmos is reluctant
to reveal her innermost secrets –
light from distant galaxies
not having yet reached the Earth
despite its 13.7 billion-year
trek across space.
A Window into the Past
The universe suckles
nascent galaxies
and cradles dying stars
in its bosom
reflecting history
in its radiance –
limited
by the speed of light
celestial bodies are observed
as they appeared in the past,
their images time-delayed –
beheld as they were,
not as they are:
the Sun as it appeared
eight minutes ago,
a four-year-old portrait
of Proxima Centauri
and a snapshot
of the Andromeda Galaxy
two and a half million years ago.
The cosmos is reluctant
to reveal her innermost secrets –
light from distant galaxies
not having yet reached the Earth
despite its 13.7 billion-year
trek across space.
Fern G. Z. Carr is a Director of Project Literacy, lawyer, teacher and past President of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A Full Member of and former Poet-in-Residence for the League of Canadian Poets, this 2013 Pushcart Prize nominee composes and translates poetry in six languages. Carr has been published extensively from Finland to Mauritius. She’s been cited as a contributor to the Prakalpana Literary Movement in India as well as having had her work recognized by the Parliamentary Poet Laureate. One of her poems is currently orbiting the planet Mars aboard NASA’S MAVEN spacecraft. www.ferngzcarr.com.