Feeding The Sun Poem by Bill Knott

Feeding The Sun

Rating: 2.8


One day we notice that the sun
needs feeding. Immediately
a crash program begins: we fill rockets
with wheat, smoke-rings, razorblades, then,
after long aiming
--they're off. Hulls specially alloyed
so as not to melt before the stuff
gets delivered we pour cattle rivers windmills,
aborigines etcet into the sun which
however, grows stubbornly
smaller, paler. Finally
of course we run out of things to feed the thing,
start shipping ourselves. By now
all the planets-moons-asteroids and
so on have been shoveled in though they're
not doing much good it's
still looking pretty weak, heck, nothing helps!
Now the last few of us left lift off.
The trip seems forever but then, touchdown.
Just before entering we wonder,
will we be enough. There's
a last-second doubt in our minds: can we,
can this final sacrifice, our broughten crumb,
satiate
it--will a glutteral belch burst out then at last,--
and will that Big Burp be seen by far-off telescopes,
interpreted as a nova
by those other galaxies,
those further stars which have always seemed even more
starving
than ours?

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Rajnish Manga 15 June 2017

Fantastic imagery. Looks like a sci-fi adventure. Enjoyed reading it. Thanks.

1 6 Reply
Bernard F. Asuncion 15 June 2017

Reminds me of the movie STAR WARS series.... Thanks for posting...

0 6 Reply
Sue Ann Simar 01 November 2006

Last night I watched a Nova on Black Holes and they are hungry big buggers. I don't know if it's enlightening or frightening to think about these 'further stars', these universal appetites?

1 0 Reply
Adeeb Alfateh 28 June 2019

Now the last few of us left lift off. The trip seems forever but then, touchdown. Just before entering we wonder, will we be enough. There's a last-second doubt in our minds: can we, superb writing superb 10++++++++++++++++++++++

0 0 Reply
Douglas Scotney 15 June 2017

wins me over to the Big Burp Theory, Bill

1 1 Reply
Edward Kofi Louis 15 June 2017

In our minds! ! Thanks for sharing.

1 3 Reply
Denis Mair 15 June 2017

We humans recognize that there are great cosmic energy loops, and it is understandable that we want to consider ourselves important enough to contribute something to natural cycles. Bill Knott is writing tongue-in-cheek here, showing our human awkwardness about knowing where we fit in cosmically. We may wish to contribute to a cycle that is on a different scale from our own. In truth, our relation to the Creator is similar. We want to give something back, but all we can give is our praise and gratitude, which is on a different order of magnitude (in a different dimension) from what made us.

4 0 Reply
Anil Kumar Panda 15 June 2017

Great imagery! Seems like a science fiction. Enjoyed.

0 3 Reply
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Bill Knott

Bill Knott

Carson City, Michigan
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