Copyright © 2009 Ernest Bloom.
Michelangelo, was the resplendent
Sistine Chapel incurvature then but
one of many chromatic studies for
the Carina Nebula? So it might
well seem. Didst thou envisage starry swarms
like inflamèd bees darting 'midst cooler
lazuline, the pitch-black of concealing
nebulae? I conceive how then thou might
proceed to infuse damp celestial
plaster with tints of neutral hydrogen,
and singly ionizèd nitrogen
and sulfur. Supreme Michelangelo,
may we all recall to reach daily, or
moment by moment, for the Heavens through
our own blends of tints, through our own scribbled
words, through our own interactional deeds,
through every last contraction of our own
gently beating hearts, through every breath drawn
uncertainly, through every last note of
every last song that's sung or guitar that's
mildly strummed or violin bowed with
all the passion to shake this very globe
underfoot to its kernel sanctified!
Absolutely, resplendently dazzling beauty and I don't mean just the Nebula and 'Angelo's unscrutinized brain connections, mind you. The whole "through" repetition phase is particularly breath-taking, the flow, the constant repetition of 'through' gives a continuous quality to the poem. 'underfoot to its kernel sanctified!'- I loved the inventive metaphor. You certainly live up to the values you proclaim.
ReplyDeletehm. one aims and looses the string, i suppose. i did not put it in literal words here, but the celestial sphere is obviously a grander ceiling than the sistine. sometimes when i write things like this i think i hear the ghost of whitman sneaking up behind me.
ReplyDeleteDamn, the correct term elludes me, but I love your use of accenting (e.g. inflamèd). I also liked that you used the scientific name for 'Carina Nebula' in the title. The poem itself, well, what can I say? You had me at 'Michelangelo' :).
ReplyDeletei'd reveal the term, but the consequences are exceedingly dire, and grave. well, i liked that it's written in iambic pentameter, and especially i like that (therefore) i used one particular word probably never before (or since) used in english: "ionizèd." but really when i saw the hues in that image of NGC 3372, and its intricacy and elegance and the sylphlike grace of its gravimetric architecture, i instantly flashed on the sistine, and this wrote itself. oh, and i quite like the rhymes seem/lazuline/{concealing}/{conceive}.
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