Night Vision by Steve Rapp

Night Vision

A hundred years ago,
Under the sand and stone
Of the Valley of the Kings,
They found a body
Covered in a mask of gold,
Inside a golden coffin,
Inside a quartzite tomb,
With stars painted
On a cobalt blue ceiling
More than three
Thousand years before.

Deep under ground,
Laboratories search
For the unseeable
Substance of the universe.
Each second, stars send
Trillions of neutrinos through
Earth’s solid iron core
Without touching a single atom.
Yet, one in many millions
Collides with matter,
Pushing electrons faster
Than the speed of light,
Producing a momentary
Luminous blue cone.

Half a mile under Yorkshire,
Set in a band of translucent salt,
Inside a net of copper wires,
Inside a stainless steel shed,
A cylinder of Halon gas
Sits hoping to catch
The cosmic wind,
The faint blue twinkle
Of stardust ground
Inconspicuously small.

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Editor’s Comments: Valley of the Kings is also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings. The poem is likely referring to the tomb of Nefertari Merytmut where it’s described that the “ceilings throughout are painted deep blue and decorated with yellow stars.” Or perhaps the tomb is that of Ramasses IV

In a hypernova, the star completely destroys itself in this type of supernova. Read more about supernovae in general

Image Credit: Abstract supernova (wallpaperaccess.com)

 

 

Steve Rapp
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