M.C. Childs
Those who leave
Hexagram Pi, Holding Together
Earth embers glimmering,
we circle the campfire called Saturn.
We kindle each other.
Those who leave, let them leave.
They are sparks bickering
with stars.
Godspeed.
_______________
M.C. Childs is interim dean of architecture and planning at the University of New Mexico. In the last two years his poems have placed in the Science Fiction Poetry Association awards, and his work has been published in multiple magazines. Mark is the author of the award-winning urban design books, The Zeon Files (with Ellen Babcock), Urban Composition, and Squares: A Public Space Design Guide.
Backstory: “Those who leave” is a change or I Ching poem. It follows the form and meanings of hexagram holding together ( Pi ) from the I Ching. This hexagram helped me think about a political aspect of space colonization.
Image credit: Abstract wallpaper (wallup.net)/bokeh; the partial planet (color-adjusted), Saturn (nicepng); and (muted & color-adjusted) frosted stars (nicepng), were all combined
