Perusing Stars
San Josecito Beach, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
My flight from LAX to San Jose, Costa Rica was delayed several hours. I sat in a hallway connecting Terminals 2 and 3, mesmerized by the art spanning forty or more feet on the wall across from me. Your Body Is a Space That Sees by Los Angeles artist Lia Halloran is a commissioned piece celebrating significant contributions to science by women astronomers. Three of the pieces are large cyanotypes. The much smaller fourth is the framed original ink-on-transparent drafting film of the Horsehead Nebula in the constellation Orion, based on its discovery in 1888 by Williamina Fleming, who patiently looked at photographic plates taken by male astronomers. Fleming wasn’t given credit for her discovery in the resulting publication, an unfortunate and too common practice of male research leaders of the era and for many decades past.
trailing suitcases
people rush by
looking down
The night sky has called to me since I was a child. Undoubtedly, I and all the children in my neighborhood were influenced by NASA’s Gemini and Apollo programs of the 1960s. Our small telescopes trained on the Moon, we tried in vain to see Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin hopping across the Sea of Tranquility. My fascination grew into all things Science and Nature. Thus, it’s no wonder binoculars hang around my neck. The waiter brings me an Imperial, a Costa Rican beer, the humid air condensing on the chill bottle. I walk to sit on a dark beach, the Pacific Ocean, a pitch-black presence known only by the crash of its breaking waves.
no light pollution
Orion hangs
higher in the sky
Michael G. Smith, Bozeman, MT, is a chemist. His poetry has been published in many literary journals. His books include a poetry collection No Small Things; Flip Flop, a collection of haiku co-created with Miriam Sagan; and The Dippers Do Their Part, a co-creation of haibun and katagami with artist Laura Young. A bird watcher, he volunteers at a local wetland wildlife sanctuary and elsewhere.
See more of Michael's work in 12.2 and 12.1 and 11.1 and 11.1 and 11.1 and 10.2 and 9.2 and 9.2 and 9.2