Dark Mines Poem by Gabriella Mayer

The day the New Horizons spacecraft transmitted the picture of Pluto handing the frosty void its heart, I broke along with it. Why did we place the child in that crowded Victorian orphanage? We doted on its brothers and sisters without much thought! The youngest child always knows who will be loved more, be careful when it stays quiet at the dinner table. The smallest thing is an angel in the flame. Even as I cried I knew the dwarf had been abandoned once again. I saw the hope of being touched reel and rip apart as the spacecraft walked on by into oblivion. And yet you keep spinning along the path chosen by gravity's pull. Some life begins when the dawn of our own vision is too much to bear. But here I am staring at a screen at 2 am. I too am like you. I cannot touch the stars and hope to become a supernova, endlessly bright. But do not forget, my dear, having a smaller wheel than the others increases your endurance. You will have larger orbits to absorb the sun's loving touch. I can touch the screen and comfort you without you seeing me. How long before I can touch you again?