In 2003, I came across a call for submissions for a new webzine, Astropoetica. Its mission statement was “Mapping The Stars Through Poetry”, and editor Emily Gaskin had the excellent idea of launching it with a Constellations Issue: at least one poem for each of the 88 constellations recognised by the International Astronomical Union.
“That sounds like a good idea,” I thought, and set about finding some Southern Hemisphere constellations that would by the overly-prosaic Abbe Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille – you can see the poems at the bottom of this post. Octans is the constellation which contains the South Celestial Pole.
Later, I had poems in a couple more issues, including two in the Solar System Issue – these two form part of the Mars sequence in All Blacks’ Kitchen Gardens. But, not having written any suitable poems for a while, I was especially pleased that my poem Losing Weight was included in the latest issue.
I’m not the only New Zealand poet to be included in Astropoetica: Mary Cresswell has been published there several times, and Su Lynn Cheah had two poems, including a particular favourite of mine, Insects, in the Constellation Issue.
It isn’t easy to keep a small-press magazine appearing so consistently, especially when you’re paying the contributors. Emily Gaskin has done both poetry and astronomy a great service with Astropoetica, and if you are interested in either, I recommend it.
Three Constellation Poems
Antlia, the Air Pump
The good Abbé
had a telescope, and time
and a cloth ear
when it came to names
Abbé Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille
You’d think a name like that
would awaken a sense of rhythm
in the most prosaic of men
a sense that would guide his choices
as he looked up
from the Cape of Good Hope
at a southern sky crying out for names
But no. He wished to honour
Robert Boyle, great father of the Air Pump
Antlia Pneumatica and Machine Pneumatique
that’s the name he lumped me with
Dogs, bulls, and virgins
wrapped in their antiquity
chased me from the north
with their mortifying laughter
Later someone had mercy
shortened me to Antlia
People now think
I’m named after ants or antlers
Squint and you can see me
crawling through the southern sky
keeping my head down
as air leaks from my broken heart
Horologium, the Clock
Clock, clock
Tick tock
In the southern sky
Counting down the lonely years
All are born to die
Clock, clock
Tick tock
Entropy remains
As your stars drift out of reach
Leaving only names
Octans, the Octant
I was there when the Yamana
sailed south from Cape Horn
in their flimsy bark canoes
and found a world of ice
I was there when the Maori
dared the Southern Ocean
in twin totara logs
sailing from Te Waipounamu
There for Ross and de Gerlache
Bellingshausen and Borchgrevink
Nothing much to look at
Not shining like Polaris
But when they came to the South Pole
I was there
When Roald Amundsen
planted the flag of Norway
at his best guess at the Pole —
I was there
When Robert Falcon Scott
lay down for death to claim him
Somewhere high above the blizzard
I was there
There for Mawson and Shackleton
for Hillary and Byrd
Nothing much to look at
Not shining like Polaris
But when they came to the South Pole
I was there
Above the chattering of tourists
and the scientists’ endeavours
Above the melting and the greening
I’ll be there
When the sea level rises
and the ice turns into water
Or when a new ice age beckons
I’ll be there
There for artist and astronomer
Protester and prospector
Nothing much to look at
Not shining like Polaris
But when they come to the South Pole
I’ll be there
Antlia was included in All Blacks’ Kitchen Gardens. Horologium and Octans have not been collected in book form.
