When my time has come
And helium
Weighs down on my exhausted core,
Spent from shedding light
Through the endless night
Until the fuel could last no more,
Let my light not fade
Nor my mass degrade,
Into a dwarf-star, cold and dim;
Nor may I collapse
To a hole that traps
All mass, all light to cross its rim.
No! Let my demise
Light up the skies
In awesome supernova burst,
My last energy
Exploding free
To fly among the stars, dispersed;
And to leave behind
A wondrous sign,
A vast galactic cloud that beams
Opalescent hues
Of bright aqua blues,
Magentas, reds in wisps and streams.
Untold worlds shall know
When they glimpse the glow
Of that ethereal monument
That a star once shone
That, though now long-gone,
Forever decks the firmament.
The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
We hope you will join us in The Imaginative Conservative community. The Imaginative Conservative is an online journal for those who seek the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. We address culture, liberal learning, politics, political economy, literature, the arts and the American Republic in the tradition of Russell Kirk, T.S. Eliot, Edmund Burke, Irving Babbitt, Wilhelm Roepke, Robert Nisbet, Richard Weaver, M.E. Bradford, Eric Voegelin, Christopher Dawson, Paul Elmer More, and other leaders of Imaginative Conservatism. Some conservatives may look at the state of Western culture and the American Republic and see a huge dark cloud which seems ready to unleash a storm that may well wash away what we most treasure of our inherited ways. Others focus on the silver lining which may be found in the next generation of traditional conservatives who have been inspired by Dr. Kirk and his like. We hope that The Imaginative Conservative answers T.S. Eliot’s call to “redeem the time, redeem the dream.” The Imaginative Conservative offers to our families, our communities, and the Republic, a conservatism of hope, grace, charity, gratitude, and prayer.
The featured image is a photo of M17 (also known as “Omega” or “Swan Nebula”) taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Wonderful!