New NASA Visualization Probes the Light-bending Dance of
Binary Black Holes
—Frances Reddy, NASA, 2021
Shocking New Observation: Merging Black Holes Really Can
Emit Light
—Ethan Siegel, Forbes, 2020
I want to tell you something
from the hole at the back of my heart,
except I’m not sure I can speak and if I could
what words would come?
The smallest tremor
the slightest breath,
(yours? mine?)
becomes an invitation to curiosity.
99% oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen,
carbon; hydrogen the biggest in us,
that element of uncertainty,
we are 62.9% surprise.
Tenderness tiptoes around this simplest molecule,
past its subatomic particles and into the star culture
as it folds on itself. It doesn’t fade or become smaller,
but folded, you no longer see it.
Like that hole at the back of my heart,
when you close your eyes, colors
wash through and atoms dance in and out.
If you could describe it aloud,
people passing by would fall
down in the street.
Instead, they stroll on sidewalks
and check their reflections in windows
where the light glints.