by Robert Hayden
I
Stood there then among
Spears and kindled shields,
praising Orion
II
Betelgeuse Aldebaran
Abstract as future yesterdays
The starlight
Crosses eons of meta-space
To us.
Algol Arcturus Almak
How shall the mind keep warm
Save at spectral
Fires-how thrive but by the light
Of paradox?
Altair Vega Polaris Maias
III
(Sojourner Truth)
comes walking barefoot
out of slavery
ancestress
childless mother
following the stars
her mind a star
IV
Pulsars, blue receding
Quasars—their vibrant
Radio waves.
Cosmic Ouija,
What is the
Mathematics of your message?
V
(The Nine-Pointed Star)
Stable stars, variable stars-
Hydrogen-into-helium
Fusions, radiations, spectral fires.
And the Nine-Pointed Star,
Sun star in the constellation
Of the nuclear Will;
Fixed star whose radiance
Filtering down to us lights mind and
Spirit, signals future light.