How Many Eyes?

How many eyes

Have looked up

And seen the stars remain the same:

The same as ever?

How many eyes bear witness
To the season’s edge
To the cusp of day and night,
To the storm-front clearing after rain
To the blinding sun
And the dazzling moon?

How many eyes

Have squinted with wonder

Widened with the effort of seeing,

Puzzled the unfathomable mystery,

The palpable beauty,

Questioned the distance,

The magnitude,

The luminance,

Of all the unnumbered stars.

How many eyes will see the stars

Among the rising tides, the iron-stained sand

On a beach

Or in the faint sky behind the setting sun,

Or in the rustling of leaves when the wind

(Itself an echo of starlight)

Touches the forest edge and all the atoms that wood is made of?

© BH 2005

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Audio:

 

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This was written for mobile planetarium planetarium shows in the early 00's: part of a collaboration with artist, Gill Russell and cosmologist, Francisco Diego.

When I say written, I mean, Gill edited what I'd written into something manageable.

It's the way of the universe.

This is the shortened version as edited by Gill and including the audio she recorded. The long version is here for comparison.