Marc Latham’s latest Folding Mirror poem is an ekphrastic one inspired by a wolf calendar photo. The October wolf’s grey paws seemed to join it to the rock it stood on, so the connection between wolf and Earth seemed a good topic for a mirror poem. Here it is:
Wolves 2012 Calendar, October Star Wolf
fire melting gold
fall full flow
leaves oval shaped
seem to poke
fun behind rump
tongue-twisting
on thin reaching branches
both stand on rock, green and grey coloured
under strong running legs
tree-like
paws resemble plinths
keep head grounded
feminine tongue smiles
sunrise eyes shine
below mountain peaks
The most popular photo ever taken by Hubble is the nearby Sombrero galaxy (M104), which is said to have 800 billion suns in it; be 50,000 light years across; and is thought to have a black hole a billion times our wonderful sun’s mass at the centre. The Sombrero Galaxy Rings Provide a Folding Mirror Image?
Poem Explanation
It may be because of my biased mindset, but I think the Sombrero galaxy has a bit of a folding mirror look about it; more like a double sombrero than one.
So I wrote a little FM ditty about it in a shape that hopefully physically replicates the mirror hat Hubble image. I also reversed the mirroring words in each half’s lines as much as possible.
The two halves mirror words per line: 3-5-6-9 (4) 9-6-5-3
The middle is small but bold to represent the black hole’s tiny size and massive mass.
How’s That for a Mexican Hat?
zenith fading stars
400 billion suns circle dance
top side of the folding sombrero
50,000 light years enclosed in dust top to right *BHBS*
left to bottom orbs fall from 50,000 light years
creating a mirror sombrero lower half
millions of halo clusters shine
star fading nadir
——————————————–
*BHBS*: Black Hole Billion Suns
It’s the first of a few space FMs over the next few days, so please return to continue your FM journey through the Hubble enlightened universe.
By the way, there is also an hourglass image amongst Hubble’s top pictures if you follow the image link, and that of course has relevance to Claire Knight’s recent ground-breaking Hourglass poem.
mistYmuse 