Comets: Comet 46P/Wirtanen to Be Viewed from Venezia, Serenissima
A glowing circle smudge of aqua light
Sails through the constellation Taurus with
An icy pinprick at its heart. Too slight
For naked eyes to see, its tiny pith
Is emanating glory in a sphere
Of coldest messaging from ancient time.
The vacuum of space, though black and sere,
Puts up with beauty like a lovely crime
Traversing darkness as a rolling pearl
Of verdant luminescence, nuanced, pale,
And see through, like a holy crime to swirl
Its way around our star as in a veil.
It has a frigid sacredness, a nun
Who lost her soul while bowing past our sun.