Hyakutake comet - image from telegraph.co.uk[I came across this poem among my papers this evening: the poem Dear World,
written by Alma Luz Villaneuva of California on March 24, 1996. I thought I would post it here for your enjoyment. It has been a heavy day on the airwaves, watching footage of the Twin Towers being attacked and then collapsing. It has stricken me wordless. I thought we could use a lift, something hopeful, something Other.]
Dear World,
18,400 years ago, this comet
we call (in 1996) Hyakutake
came close to the Earth (ten million
miles away, ten million); and we
can see it with the naked
eye, floating in the sky like
a tail of light. The last
time it came within ten million
miles, humans were just crossing
the terrible, icy glaciers,
the Bering Strait, into this
land mass, North America, one
of the floating, enduring Turtles.
The Turtles whispered, "Leap of
faith, dream, leap of faith, dream,"
as the comet edged its way
ten million miles, so close. 18,400
years later, the Turtles whisper,
"Leap of faith, one planet, leap
of faith, one people." This planet
floating through the stars, comets
coming home to sing to the Turtles:
"Cross the terrible, icy glaciers,
the human heart, leap."
