Atoms For Peace Poem by Harley White

Atoms For Peace

Rating: 5.0


Rarely does a galaxy's designation
carry a political connotation.
Albeit its challenge has seemed elusive,
still the end of the story's not conclusive.

In light of atomic disasters global
at power plants Fukushima, Chernobyl,
and who knows how many more yet to occur,
as our ongoing energy needs du jour

are superintended by partisan aims
that play with our planet in dangerous games,
the nickname "Atoms for Peace" is ironic…
Ike condemned nuclear warfare demonic

in eloquent terms in historical speech
addressed to the UN Assembly, to reach
with maximum impact the nations worldwide…
But what of the galaxy that he supplied

with the lasting moniker "Atoms for Peace"
(an oxymoronically styled caprice) ,
that is to say, NGC 7252,
with swirls of streamed stars flinging into the blue?

The past of this system was anything but
nonviolent, though it resembles somewhat
the other component of its sobriquet,
an atomic nucleus with an array

of electrons orbiting all round about,
or loops pirouetting and spiraling out.
Two hundred twenty million light-years in space,
in Aquarius, a collision took place

and a duo of galaxies ripped apart
in interplay of astronomical art,
with pure pandemonium then ensuing,
midst clusters of starburst formations brewing.

What we are viewing in that constellation
may be portending our own situation
of the Milky Way's future that is in store,
depicted in a poem I wrote before,

where mythic Andromeda of spiral shape
is moving straight to us for more than a scrape,
but rather a smash-up, or mash-up in fact,
like "Atoms for Peace" that's been caught in the act…

While here on this planet we're trapped in the spin
of selfish delusion that we dwell within,
and blind to our blindness we blunder ahead
toward daunting tomorrows that fill us with dread.

We humans are treading a treacherous path
that's begun to arouse Mother Nature's wrath.
What our posterity's history will be
is a Gordian knot of a mystery…

If ancient Greeks gazed upon us from afar
they might perceive Earth as solivagant star,
wandering ‘asteres planetai' to them,
videlicet our lapis lazuli gem.

Time passes more swiftly than we realize.
The violet withers; the sweet songbird dies.
Our mortal existence is gone in a whiz.
If only we'd see just how precious life is!

Atoms For Peace
Monday, December 21, 2015
Topic(s) of this poem: astronomy ,atoms,disaster,history,peace,political,selfish
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Inspiration for the poem was from the following article "Galactic politics"...


See Astro-Poem referred to, "Milk Spill"... on Poem Hunter...


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'Atoms for Peace' is the curious name given to a pair of interacting and merging galaxies that lie around 220 million light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius. It is also known as NGC 7252 and Arp 226 and is just bright enough to be seen by amateur astronomers as a very faint small fuzzy blob.

The galaxy has an odd nickname. In December 1953, President Eisenhower gave a speech that was dubbed Atoms for Peace.

The theme was promoting nuclear power for peaceful purposes - a particularly hot topic at the time.

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Image credit: NASA & ESA, Acknowledgements: Judy Schmidt
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Bill Cantrell 17 September 2017

The complexities in the phrasing are articulated with complete order, every verse dressed in perfection, I must admit...many above my ability to grasp, but the beauty shines brightly, a head on collision named after a quote that was an excuse or rather out right lie...prompted peaceful atoms, , , , I love your term oxymoronically styled caprice. I'll have to reread this one a few more times, you certainly put your readers to the test with history and morals with your poetry, I love it!

4 0 Reply
Harley White 18 September 2017

Ah, you have read this and prompted me to reread it as well. Thank you for this gratifying commentary! It is wonderful to have one’s craftsmanship appreciated!

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