Measuring the universe

for Joan Meats

i. Aristotle

The crystalline onion skins

of Aristotle’s universe

moved me

and before me

this moon

the planets and the sun

in perfect circles

around the earthly sphere

of water, air and fire

and in the ether

the stars

were eternal

and unchanging.

ii. Cat’s Eye Nebulae

We were all once stars

matter layered

inside stars

the projected dust

of some super nova

touched

by a butterfly’s wing.

What of these rings

this cross section

cut through

a dozen or more

concentric spheres?

Each dust shell

is the edge

of star mass more

than this

solar system’s

planets and moons

projected by helium flash

once every 1500 years.

If these are the final

drawn out gasps

of a dying star

then did you

shed shells of yourself

in those first

motions of death?

iii. The Fundamental Law

In seeking truth

I find beauty.

In finding beauty

I see truth.

And as I peel back

each familiar skin

I come closer

to the fundamental you

and the emergent possibilities

of our eternal symmetry.

I look to your discarded shell

and understand

that you leave me

with more than just

these layers of memory.

iv. Towradgi Beach

Walking alone

on this southern shore

I see waves

that are water slices

shaved in succession

by the continental shelf

the next one forming over

as the spent one recedes

and I understand

that our past motion

is your energy stored

inside of me.

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Published October 2008, SCWC & Wollongong Art Gallery

in response to Onion Skins, Joan Meats 1994