A Poem Inspired by Interstellar Microdiamonds

 

In a first for The Astrochemistry Laboratory, we have discovered that our work on the identification of microdiamonds in dense interstellar molecular clouds has inspired some original poetry! Better yet, it is a poem that we really like! Here it is:

"Scientists find universe awash in tiny diamonds"*,**

But haven't we always known?
The shimmer of trees, the shaking of flames
every cloud lined with something
clean water sings
right to the belly
scouring us with its purity
it too is awash with diamonds
 
"so small that trillions could rest
on the head of a pin"
 
It is not unwise then to say
that the air is hung close with diamonds
that we breathe diamond
our lungs hoarding, exchanging
our blood sowing them rich and thick
along every course it takes
Does this explain
why some of us are so hard
why some of us shine
why we are all precious
 
that we are awash in creation
spumed with diamonds
shot through with beauty
that survived the death of stars
 
 
by Pat Mayne Ellis
*quotations found in a newspaper clipping on the subject
 
**the newspaper clipping was the result of a press release of our findings

 

The poet was written by Pat Mayne Ellis and the poem appeared in a book entitled Cries of the Spirit. More information about the book is provided below.

Mayne Ellis is a semi-nomadic Canadian poet (having lived in various places in Canada as well as London, England, and travelled about the globe somewhat) who is presently living and writing in Victoria, BC. She looks at the stars a lot. She is also profoundly delighted that this poem can give to the researchers some of the joy that their work gave her.

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Cries of the Spirit

A Celebration of Women's Spirituality

Edited by Marilyn Sewell

Published by the Beacon Press, Boston, 1991 - 6813-6 / $18.95 / paperback

A Library Journal Best Book of 1991

Beacon Press Description: This rich and diverse sourcebook of poetry and prose celebrates women's spirituality in its many forms and is dedicated, above all, to the sacredness of ordinary, embodied life. More than three hundred poems and a few prose pieces by modern writers such as Maya Angelou, Annie Dillard, Denise Levertov, Marge Piercy, and Alice Walker, and earlier writers such as Hildegard of Bingen and Margaret Fuller, offer new insights into the realm of the spirit.

The Reverend Marilyn Sewell is the senior minister of the First Unitarian Church in Portland, Oregon.

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