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Mizar A & Mizar B
Did you know my love,
that you would weigh a half-pound
more
at the Pole,
than you would, at the equator
Because of the disparity in the centrifugal force
of the earth?
And that’s a whole half-pound more of you,
for me to love
So let’s move there, and I will make my Love
for you,
a half-pound heavier too
And did you know my love, that Sunflowers
grown at the Pole,
go round
and round chasing the sun,
till
they strangle themselves?
And that’s just the kind of Love that I’m looking
for,
so let’s move there,
and I will
strangle you, with sweetness
And did you know, our love is like
two Binary Stars
that revolve around each other, in a celestial dance
triga-numerically light years away
from the eye,
but bound by gravity?
And that’s just the kind of Love,
I’ve always dreamed of
So be, my Mizar star
companion
and together, we will rule the universe
as Mizar A and Mizar B
Those middle-star companions
in the handle of the Big Dipper, Ursa Major
and all the world,
will navigate by our light
And did you know, that on Noon of March 1st 45 BC
the Julian Calendar began
Born
of Caesar's tryst, with Cleopatra
And that February 29th, was always
the last day of the year
Except on leap years, when there was an extra day
to love?
But Augustus, wanted a month
for himself
so he stole a day from February,
so that
August, would have 31
And now, February is left with
only 28,
Except on leap years,
when there’s an extra day
to love
One less cold day in February
and one more
added
to the sultry heat of August
to adore his Cleopatra
And for me – to adore mine
And did you know, my love
that I
would have done the same
for you?
So lets move to the Pole,
where my Love
will be,
a half pound heavier
And I will strangle you, with sweetness
as I dance
an elliptical orbit, around
your hip
And we will dance, like binary stars,
tied
to the end, of an elastic string
And the pretty little dance
we make
together,
will begin the year 1, of our
own Calendar
~/~
Visiting again just short of
Visiting again just short of ten years since my first visit, I find this poem just as powerful on a third read as it was in 2004 and 2006. This is the sign of a true classic, that one can go back to it again and again. Very few poets---Wallace Stevens, Geoffrey Hill, and a handful of poets here---can move me this deeply. I applaud your achievement here.
Seryddwr
Many thanks for the fine
Many thanks for the fine comments, my friend. Funny you mention Wallace Stevens, I've got a poem about him somewhere. It was a poem that began, where one of his poems ended. When I come across it, I'll post it.
Thank you, and I will look
Thank you, and I will look forward to that. Although there are some fairly impressive poems about Pop Stevens out there, now that he has become an institution not just a poet, but I am sure yours will exceed all expectations and leave the rest of them in the dust. How do I know this? The same way that I know if i stumble over one of the grandkids' toys, i will fall down---force of gravity. Your poems are a force of literature---forms, subjects, words may be varied and different from poem to poem, but the power and force of the poems are delightfully the same.
Seryddwr
"Did you know that Sunflowers
"Did you know that Sunflowers grown at the Pole… go round and round chasing the sun – till they strangle themselves?" wow
"those middle-star companions in the handle of the Big Dipper" endless possibilities
John Lehman said... at the Pole.. no direction... take one step in any direction
and the world of measurement begins
I rarely allow a poem to knock me out of my chair . . . but this poem, with its tremendously strategic use of astronomy and ancient history (both passions of mine) just about tipped me out of my chair. Good Heavens this is a brilliant poem! And it is a poem I will be re-visiting!
Seryddwr
To enclose this much scholarship in such a short poem, and to make it so readable at the same time . . . well, that is an accomplishment that few poets ever attain. But you have attained it as if you invented the concept.
Seryddwr