A pair of blue wings is hovering
against the inky black covering
within ‘Little Fox' constellation
of Vulpecula designation,
portrayed with stipple sidereal
in Hubble image ethereal,
‘Hen two dash four three seven' labeled.
A hen with fox is Aesop fabled,
except it was really a crow
in that apologue still apropos
where pride overcame the bird's good sense,
so fox got the food through the pretense
of disparaging its corvine caw;
thus the crow dropped the cheese from its jaw.
There are many stories much the same.
In Middle Ages the bird became
chanticleer; Chaucer's ‘Canterbury
Tales' has one that warns to be wary
of flattery false and specious praise,
since fox on inflated ego plays
with rooster to hear his special cry,
hence to distract and snatch him thereby.
Yet fox falls prey to his own conceit,
and chanticleer flees to tree retreat.
But coming back to high-flying hen
which Hubble's scope brought within our ken,
this nebula with glowing surround
was by stargazer Minkowski found
then by Henize later catalogued
as nebula with the name befogged
in misleading term planetary,
for that title is quite contrary
to remnant of an imploded star,
which is indeed what those objects are.
As shown by the wings, it's bipolar,
cast off from a star like ours solar
which nearing end of its astral span
swelled to red giant's flash in the pan
then sent forth its layers into space,
as a white dwarf for core took its place…
And yet my inspiration's essence
came from the alae's luminescence
seen in this vast stelliferous sight
against the canvas of cosmic night.
Still, one might fancy those whizzing wings
borne by empyreal bird that sings
melodies wafted amidst the spheres
only a starry-eyed poet hears.
My knowledge of stars barely goes beyond the 'children's song': " Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" . I DID know our Sun is a star, ...or so i'm told. ;) Though your knowledge is light-years beyond me, i enjoyed the poem's stanza setup, rhyming, 'flow', and length. To MyPoemList & perhaps i'll share with others. bri :)
This poem generated a knowledge searching experience that reminds one of the beauty of the Universe and how little we know about it and how much we have to learn. It is a magnificent work of art that stirs the mind and the imagination!
What a nice surprise to see this comment! Thank you so much for your high praise which is truly heartening!
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
p.s. your title and the photo were clinchers. :) bri