In the early morning dust

luminous spectres rise,

blooms of burgundy

consuming thought

and hope

and light.

Star-forges burning bright

across the sable sea –

fire-ghosts

born of unknown flames

to cast learning adrift

on paper boats of pride

and loss

and time.

In the infinite night,

we look

and blink

and sigh –

grasping

for a space

forever

out of reach.




This poem is inspired by the recent discovery of very red, luminous objects in the early universe that challenge our understanding

of galaxy and black hole formation.

Wang, B., Leja, J., de Graaff, A., Brammer, G.B., Weibel, A., van Dokkum, P., Baggen, J.F., Suess, K.A., Greene, J.E., Bezanson, R. and Cleri, N.J.,

2024. RUBIES: Evolved Stellar Populations with Extended Formation Histories at z∼ 7–8 in Candidate Massive Galaxies Identified with

JWST/NIRSpec. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 969(1), Article L13. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad55f7