Karin L. Frank
Celestial Mechanics
Before the sensible sun arose
a jobless, homeless man awoke
(onhis bed of old newspapers)
from a dream of being an astronaut.
Still feeling spacious, well-fed and a treasure to his community,
the man nonetheless felt
a bitter pill in orbit inside his belly.
This mass, a gob
of undigested insults, sank
in the night-awakened dreamer’s
innards, a deep well of gravitas.
A bit of Hawking radiation,
he ricocheted off its event horizon
and bounced high
enough to reach the silent moon.
_______________
Karin L. Frank’s poems and stories have been published in various literary journals, such as the Rockhurst Review, KC Voices, the Mid-America Poetry Review, the North Dakota Quarterly, the UK’s Prole, New Letters and the Shaker of Margaritas Anthologies. They have also been featured in various science fiction venues, such as Asimov’s, Tales of the Talisman, the UK’s Shoreline of Infinity, and an Alternate Truths Anthology.
Editor’s Note: An artist rendition of Hawking radiation by Harold Ritsch/Science Photo Library and the image of silhouette of a man are superimposed (See https://physicsworld.com/a/stephen-hawkings-scientific-legacy/.)
