Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
I stare down
the line of sight
at Saturn–
a ball bearing struck through
with a pin–
and I am that child
inclined to fly there
unannounced and skim
dust and ice
from the rings.
“The Universe’s First Fireworks” – from the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope Collection. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/A. Kashlinsky (GSFC)
I could travel to the stars
but for these difficulties.
Janus the gatekeeper
always says ‘no’–
his head backlit
by a tease of stars
none of which are mine.
This door closed,
I chisel an archway
with my words.
Today’s sun with sunspots. Image credit: NASA SOHO.
The perfidy
in this brief estrangement:
you still holding on
through the wide curve
even through
the slowed momentum
the distance
nothing more than
the final confidence
of our return.
Congrats, J.A. Grier! Your 7-7 lines were picked by the judges from the submissions. So here it is: the final haiku!
Exoplanets
by Christine Rueter and J.A. Grier
To the orrery,
we add more distant planets
too faint for our eyes.
This bright, braille wave invites
us to come – explore by touch.
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The collaborative haiku guidelines (retained for posterity):
Renga is a form of collaborative haiku with a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable structure. A single writer initiates the poem with the first 5-7-5 stanza and welcomes other writers to provide the 7-7 stanza.
Anyone can submit the 7-7 lines! For the sake of all renga participants, please include your lines as comments to the collaborative haiku post so that others can see what has been submitted. I will “close” the renga to submissions on the date indicated with the collaborative haiku post. I will have two independent judges pick their favorite from the submissions. The final renga will be published on this blog, and the submitter will be given co-credit with me in the by-line.
tychogirl 