A Dissertation
Aurora Borealis, Aurora Australis *1
Tyler Blanski
We are, I am told, evolved *2 star powder:
The explosion, the exodus, the slow growth–
Our anatomy *3 is a little cosmology.*4
No wonder a firmament *5 fills the cerebrum: *6
Expanses stretch inside us, aromas, *7
Our thinking caps are knit by Mother Reason,
Person sets a match to the soma; *8
No wonder we wish our city lights,
The spirit of Claudius,*9 wouldn’t
Curtain like a cloud *10 the night sky.
The epidermis *11 is not the terminus: *12
The soul outside-looking-in,
Inside-looking-out,
Moves back and forth,
Forth and back again,
In and out of the viscera: *13
We are permeable, *14 porous;
And, to some degree, the world within us
Is also the world around us
(we call his aura). *15
God walks in the garden,
In the cool of the evening;
His potter Spirit throws auricles, cleaving,
And blows upon the waters, breathing;
He roves upon the dawn.
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*1 a phenomenon of lights in the sky, caused by charged particles from the sun interacting with atoms in the atmosphere [borealis is from Latin via the Greek Boreas, the god of the north wind; australis is from the Latin, Auster, ‘the south, the south wind.’]; poetic/lit. “the dawn.”
*2 to develop from simple to more complex over successive generations, often as a result of natural selection.
*3 the branch of science concerned with human body structure; the physical structure of a person.
*4 the science of the origin and development of the universe, esp. the “big bang theory,” which combines observational astronomy and particle physics.
*5 the heavens or the sky, esp. when seen as a tangible thing; fig. a world viewed as a collection of people.
*6 the principal part of the brain, located in the front of the head, consisting of two hemispheres. It’s responsible for the regular activity of the body and the integration of sensory and neural functions.
*7 a subtle, pervasive quality or atmosphere; a distinctive, pleasant smell.
*8 the body as distinct from the soul and mind.
*9 the antagonist in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
*10 a mass of condensed water vapor floating in the atmosphere; fig. a state or cause of gloom or worry.
*11 the outermost layer of skin cells.
*12 a final point in space or time; an end.
*13 the organs in the abdomen; the intestines.
*14 allowing liquids or gases to pass through it.
*15 an emanation surrounding a human body; the essence of an individual.
I’m in an intro to Astro Physics class right now, so this is especially relevant to my life right now.
