A SARM PROJECT
AND
AN OFFICIAL PROGRAM OF
Coordinator: Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)
President of SARM: Valentin Grigore
General Counsellor: Arlene Carol (U.S.A.,
residing in Turkey)
Honorary Counsellors: Alastair McBeath (U.K.,
Vice-President of the International Meteor Organization)
and Robert L. Eklund (U.S.A.,
Mount Wilson Observatory Association)
Web Designer-Master: Florin Stancu (SARM)
Secretary: Alexandru Sebastian Grigore (SARM)
*
Moonrise over the Lake
Artwork by Calin Niiculae
*
The International Astronomical Union and UNESCO
created the International Year of Astronomy in 2009,
the largest science education and public outreach event in history,
which involved
148 National Nodes,
40 Organizational Nodes,
33 Organizational Associates,
22 Media Partners
and 28 official (cornerstone and special) projects,
two of them,
100 Hours of Astronomy
(organized by Astronomers Without Borders and the European Southern Observatory)
and Galilean Nights
(powered by the European Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory)
being the largest-ever projects of public astronomy.
That was an opportunity for
the Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy (SARM)
to realize its own original international web project,
Astropoetry to the International Year of Astronomy 2009
(“the largest-ever astronomical poetry tribute”, with 200 participants from 6 continents),
which was nominated in January 2010
for the IYA2009 Mani Bhaumik Prize
for Excellence in Astronomy Education and Public Outreach.
Two of the album-pages of that project were connected to
the two IYA2009 world awards received by SARM,
as follows:
-100 Hours of Astronomy in Poetry was a mirror of
SARM’s festival of astronomy at Targoviste during 2009 April 2-5,
announced officially as “Highly Commended” for the
“Largest single registered 100 Hours of Astronomy event”;
-Galilean Poetry was a part of
SARM’s festival of astronomy at Targoviste during 2009 October 22-24,
announced officially as “Winner” for the
“Outstanding Galilean Nights Event”.
The beginning of 2010 brought another major challenge for the sky lovers,
the Global Astronomy Month,
organized by Astronomers Without Borders in April 2010.
And SARM decided to use the legacy of
Astropoetry to the International Year of Astronomy 2009
by opening a new international project,
Astropoetry to the Global Astronomy Month 2010.
*
2010, March 27th,
Valentin Grigore’s “Us and the Sky - Noi si Cerul” weekly broadcast,
Columna TV - Targoviste.
A few hours before the Earth Hour,
Galileo Galilei looks at the Global Astronomy Month 2010,
while Valentin Grigore (President of SARM)
and Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM’s cultural counsellor)
launch this great event in Romania…
…and, keeping in hands
Robert L. Eklund’s astropoetry book First Star I See Tonight,
they also open the international project
Astropoetry to the Global Astronomy Month 2010
including the largest-ever web page of
astronomical poetry and astropoetic images.
Images captured
by Andrei Olteanu
*
MOTTO:
“The silvery spring came tumbling down
Bubbling and chattering over stones in the ground.
Clear and brilliant, a wonderful sight
Giver of life, mother nature’s light.”
-David R. Keedy (U.K.,
member of the British Astronomical Association
and author of the astropoetry book A Touch Of Poetry)-
*
DAUGHTER, MOTHER AND GAM
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
GOODBYE OR WELCOME ORION
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Over the terrestrial cold seasons
the sky gives
a sublime compensation:
the most beautiful constellation.
Goodbye or Welcome Betelgeuse and Bellatrix,
epaulets of the highest heavenly grade.
Goodbye or Welcome Diamond Belt and Great Nebula,
untouchable treasures.
Goodbye or Welcome Saiph and Rigel,
spurs of a superior walk.
When the people celebrate the Global Astronomy Month,
the sky celebrates the generous passing
of the fascinating hunter of perished hearts
from the North to the South.
*
ORION
-photo by Adrian Apostol-
*
MOON
-astro-photo-poem by Dan Mitrut-
pale echo
roaring in the craters
darkened by eclipses
souls haunt
and implore water
waste paradise
the Sea of Silence changes its form
waiting vainly for a rain cloud
dress rehearsal for a
spring over time
*
INTO THE DAWN GLOW
-astro-photo-poem by John Goldsmith (Perth, Western Australia;
Member: The World At Night;
Producer: Celestial Visions astronomical photography exhibition)-
Radiant
In the experience of
An all night vigil
An encounter
with the cosmos,
Quietly
As planets
Stars,
and the night itself
dissolve,
Into the dawn glow
Photo: Astrophotographers greet the dawn light emerging above
the meteorite crater rim of Kandimalal (Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater),
in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Photo: © John Goldsmith, Celestial Visions.
*
UNIVERSE
-haiku series by Dominic Diamant-
Who does release
the cosmic magic?
It’s too impressive.
I fly through galaxies
- invincible enthusiasm -
but I don’t know who I am.
Flight towards You
unique redemption.
Is it possible?
Wherever I come
wherever I go
astral wonders
*
MILKY WAY OVER THE MUDDY VOLCANOES,
BUZAU COUNTY, ROMANIA
-photo by Andrei Zincenco-
*
ROBERT L. EKLUND’S ASTROPOETIC INTRODUCTION
(Note:
Bob Eklund - from Los Angeles, California -
is the editor and one of the sponsors of GAM 2010)
The following double-haiku poem, “Capella’s Song,”
was written after my wife and I took an evening walk
just as the star Capella was rising.
As we walked along, the star moved across the electric wires beside our road,
up and down like a note written on a musical scale.
Laura and I each tried recording the event in poetry, with this result:
CAPELLA’S SONG
Bright Capella lilts
Up and down a treble clef
Of electric lines.
-Bob-
Twinkling Capella
Do-ti-la-so-fa-mi-re
Moving down the wires.
-Laura-
The following 14-line rhymed poem, “Redshift,”
is a sonnet in the classic Shakespearean form
(the first and only sonnet I have ever tried to write).
I was out walking at sunset time in early December,
enjoying the bright red leaves of the liquidamber trees (similar to maples)
that grow in our neighborhood.
The spectra of leaves and sunset were shifting to the red.
REDSHIFT
How brightly now these liquidambers gleam,
As green gives way to yellow, orange, red -
The brilliance of last summer’s sun is spread
Across a thousand outstretched leaves. They seem
Like red stars in some distant galaxy
Spinning away in unknown time and space,
Their light red-shifted in an outbound race
Till light is stretched beyond what we can see.
How quickly now the high clouds sense the close
Of this too-brief December afternoon;
White turns to hues of orange, rust, and soon
The last burnt umber shades will follow those.
Red leaves are falling, bright colors turn pale;
Will star-lit galaxies’ light also fail?
(Note:
Poems are from the book
“First Star I See Tonight: An Exploration of Wonder,” by Robert L. Eklund.
Copyright 2007 by Robert L. Eklund)
Laura and Bob Eklund (photo by Aaron Dominguez)
*
ANNULAR ECLIPSE HAIKU
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Sun, be patient, please,
the Moon needs to consume some
other fantasies
*
ANNULAR ECLIPSE 2010 IN MALE
-photo-collage by Ali Nishan (Maldive Islands,
member of Maldives Science Society)-
*
HAIKU
-by Bruce Boston (USA,
the First Grand Master of Science Fiction Poetry,
multiple laureate of the Rhysling Award,
the “Asimov’s Readers’ Award” for poetry
and the Bram Stoker Award)-
only half a star
amputated by shadow
incomplete eclipse
*
BRUCE BOSTON SALUTES GAM
*
MAGNOLIAS AND MOONS
-astro-photo-art-poem by Ion(ut) Moraru-
In one of my spring dreams
I was in a boat
floating on the lunar seas,
features of Selene.
On one of her continents,
people from antiquity
made friendly gestures to me.
*
HAIKU
-by David Asher (U.K.,
astronomer at Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland,
council member of the International Meteor Organization,
and discoverer of asteroids)-
Space - nearly empty.
Yet stars, planets, nebulae,
galaxies fill space.
*
DAVID ASHER SALUTES GAM
Attached is a picture of me in Armagh Observatory,
standing next to the meteor cameras.
In the background are the dome of the East Tower,
built in 1827,
and the cup anemometer,
invented in the 19th century by the Observatory's Director,
Thomas Romney Robinson,
for measuring wind speed.
Of course, the meteor cameras are 21st century!
*
SPRING
-haiku by Iulian Olaru-
stars of soul
in the cosmic tree
sprout again
*
BLOSSOMS AND STARS
-photographic haiku by Valentin Grigore-
*
DSO
-haiku by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Praise to Messier
New General Catalogue
Ode to star freedom
*
INCURSION INTO THE DEEP SKY
-photographic haiku
(1. M8 and M20 in Sagittarius;
2. Markarian’s Chain in the Virgo Cluster;
3. NGC7000 in Cygnus)
by Alex(andru) Conu-
*
PARADOXIST DISTICH
-by Florentin Smarandache (USA
mathematician,
creator of International Paradoxist Literary Movement,
and multiple international laureate for literature;
born in Romania)-
All is possible in this Universe
The impossible too!
*
FLORENTIN SMARANDACHE
(a universal citizen)
SALUTES GAM FROM THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
*
HIS MAJESTY TIME
-by Lucian Boboc-
One day he said to me
to take my saddlebag of cometary shadows
and my boots of sleepy stars,
and to dream lightly.
Maybe we shall meet one another.
*
EARTH HOUR IN TARGOVISTE, ROMANIA
-images:
1. by Andrei Matache
2. SARM’s Banner and Motto
(“Switch off a light bulb, switch on a star.
Try yourself.”)
3. by Cristina Slovineanu
*
HAIKU
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
the planet wakes up
and breaths some fresh cosmos -
happy earth hour
*
EARTH HOUR IN TARGOVISTE
-photographic poem by Ciprian Grigorescu-
*
TIME OF LOVE
-by Boris Marian (Mehr)-
When you love,
time is a burden,
the sky axis changes its place,
and you wait for a sign,
love or betrayal.
I am young,
much younger than you, God.
Have I the right for love?
I am young,
and the longing is an answer,
as if the starry sky would be in me
with its sublime constellations.
I am young, God,
as young as a flame.
So what is my blame?
*
EARTH HOUR IN TARGOVISTE
-photographic poem by Adrian Apostol-
*
INSTRUMENT OF KNOWLEDGE
-by Mirel Birlan (France,
astronomer at Paris Observatory;
in 2001 the International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after him;
born in Romania)-
The sky is the instrument of knowledge,
adequate and close to all ages.
It is a source for artistic inspiration
and the basis for any kind of cognition.
I spur you to give daily
a few minutes from your life
to contemplate the nocturnal miracle
that influences our existence.
*
MIREL BIRLAN
TEACHES ABOUT STARS AND SALUTES GAM
FROM THE PARIS-MEUDON OBSERVATORY
*
ANOTHER LIGHT
-by Adrian Sima-
I open the door of the choice words
and pass slowly,
throwing around me sacks of light
towards
the waters of the darkness
*
EARTH HOUR AT THE TOUR EIFFEL, PARIS, FRANCE
-photos by Andreea Fazacas-
*
TIPURITURA
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Courage! Live the Earth Hour
Next to Dracula’s Tower!
*
EARTH HOUR NEAR AND ON DRACULA’S TOWER CHINDIA,
TARGOVISTE, ROMANIA
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-
*
IT'S ALL ABOUT ASTRONOMY BABY
a series of linked hay(na)ku
-by David Kopaska-Merkel (USA,
editor of “Dreams and Nightmares” - a magazine of fantastic poetry)-
outside,
star woman
names heavenly bodies
she
names
stars after friends
family
places she
has dreamed of
her
asteroid ship
flies faster now
she
shouts out
names for galaxies
clusters
superclusters and
she goes relativistic
everything
becomes a
fiery red dot
faster,
but no
matter how fast,
she
can't reach
universe bubble edge
or
recognize it
if she does
*
DAVID KOPASKA-MERKEL SALUTES GAM
FROM TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA
*
MORE ON EARTH HOUR 2010
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe;
photos by Valentin Grigore-
I have made a selection from a list
with Romanian enthusiastic impressions
about the Earth Hour:
“It’s a drop in the sea, but we must do it.”
((Jnossy Aliz)
“Let’s remember we live on a planet that does not get on quite well.”
(Adinaaa)
“Switch off the light now, or the Earth will switch off us.”
(Bogdan)
“Symbolic gesture, which makes us conscious that we must do more things together.”
(Florentina Florescu)
“Maybe we shall rediscover the romanticism of a dinner with candles…”
(Andreea)
“I hope that one hour is just the beginning, the Earth deserves more…”
(KalloS)
“See you on the darkness.”
(Roxana)
“The Earth deserves a special attention. It is our house.”
(Iulian Baciu)
“That’s one small step for us, one giant leap for the Earth.”
(Mary)
“If you want to give a present to Terra, right now it’s the moment.”
(Cosmin)
“I shall unplug all and shall enjoy the starry sky.”
(Ramona)
“Switch off the light, lighten your mind.”
(Vio)
“Switch off the light, switch on your consciousness.”
(OonixX)
“Switch off the light, lighten your future.”
(Carmen)
“Is the concerto unplugged? Otherwise, there’s no point.”
(Mirmur)
“Let’s join our good thoughts for one hour and let’s send them to Terra.
The thought is a form of energy.”
(Madalina Apostu)
“A moment of harmony with nature is useful for humanity.”
(Ipate Emil)
“Think. Love. Live.”
(Jehanne)
“Let’s make the same thing. Let’s defy the theory of restricted relativity.”
(Alina)
“One hour in which we can think of stars.”
(yue.yume)
“Good job. I shall prepare my telescope.”
(Li)
“The darkness be with us.”
(Mery)
“Mother Earth keeps us alive. Let’s learn to be grateful.”
(Cristina)
“T. Ciortea High School in Brasov, Ballad for Terra, a concerto lightened by candles.”
(Pop Adriana)
“I don’t want to switch off the light, but I’m forced by my family.”
(Leo)
“The light is in our souls. Sleep tight and have coloured dreams.”
(Elena)
“Respect the Blue Planet!”
(Cecilia)
“If I switch off the light, do I change the world? Yes. That’s the “butterfly effect”…
(Anca Lupu)
“One hour of relaxation for our old and dear Earth.”
(Eugen Manu)
“I switch off the light, go to the garden, and admire the starry sky.
One hour of peace for the planet Earth!”
(Bretea Mihaela-Luminita)
“What do you say if next week we repeat the same happening?”
(Alexandra)
These impressions seem to be
instinctive poetic reactions
of people who re-discover that
they are inhabitants of a natural planet,
connected to the Universe. .
*
UNIVERSE, GAM AND ME
-by Costin Negoita-
I’m ready
for eternity!
*
THINKING OF THE ETERNAL STARRY SKY
-cartoon by Radu Bercea-
*
SUNSPOTS
-collective astro-photo-poetic mini-drama by…
Cornel Apetroaiei:
These days the Sun is fretful.
So I took my lunette and “shot” a few sunspots…
Marian Lucian Achim:
Yes, the Wolf number is in ascension.
Today I also “pointed” AR 1057 and AR 1059…
Alin Tolea (USA,
astronomer at John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA;
born in Romania):
What do you say now,
those with “maunder minimum” and “little ice age”?
Laurentiu Alimpie:
Are you glad
that the global warming comes?
Alin Tolea:
Please… we are astronomers…
cultured people…
Radu Gherase:
If you name this as solar activity, then…
Maybe that’s the reason that last winter was
as snowbound in the northern hemisphere as
in winters of 1972 and 1978,
when people were worried about a possible new ice age.
Maybe you would say I am a maniac on underground theories,
but I am convinced that usually all in this world
(including many scientific visions)
turn round the money
just like the Earth turns round the Sun.
Andrei Dorian Gheorghe:
Some of the people think that any sunspot
represents in fact a terrible world plot.
Cornel Apetroaiei:
Fellows, that’s why,
through another picture of mine,
I wish you to have daily, during GAM,
a clear sky.
Adrian Bruno Sonka:
A friend of ours, Catalin Beldea, made a picture of
the International Space Station transiting the disc of the Sun.
Catalin Beldea
(says nothing, but shows his ISS Transit photo):
Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
(concludes):
The ISS is not hot,
but seems like a sunspot.
*
I AM A COMET!
-by Elena Andreea Alecu-
Pulsars haunt my veins,
the Universe
(my Omar Khayyam!)
writes quatrains for me,
I begin to dream,
ardent supernovae rummage avidly abysses,
I am a comet with contemplative attitudes,
I wander idly to establish
from what unbeginning
I’ve started to the absolute.
*
APRIL COMETS
-photos
1. C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring),
by Adrian Bruno Sonka;
2. C/2009 K5 McNaught,
by Catalin Paduraru ‘Sarpe”;
3. C/2009 K5 McNaught and Close NGC Objects,
by Catalin Timosca
*
LOOKING BACK
-by Charles Swannell (USA,
professor of English literature)-
Traveling through the dark
Between the starry lightposts
Path to the Once Was
*
THE RISE OF ARCTURUS
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
LIGHT POLLUTION
-by Ion(ut) Moraru-
I’d like to watch the Milky Way,
but my neighbours serve stars on TV.
I am content with Mars,
but a luminous advertisement has appeared
at the corner of my street.
“At least I can still see the Moon,”
I say in the end.
*
LIGHTS OF TARGOVISTE AND SKY OBSERVERS
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
CANDY
-by Stephen M. Wilson (USA,
editor of “microcosms’
and co-editor of Dwarf Stars)-
Earth, Moon, Sun, Stars, Planets
Quarks, Strings, Dark Matter ...
God takes a bite out of the
Milky Way
*
STEPHEN M. WILSON SALUTES GAM
(as the editor of “microcosms”,
he felt indebted to show a… micropicture)
*
OBSERVATORY
-by Silviu Georgescu-
Hum in the night
among cold strata of glass
clusters of stars
*
LIGHTS OF THE CITY AND THE IASI OBSERVATORY, ROMANIA
-photo by Cristian Mihaila-
*
OLD MEDITATION
-by Mircea Pteancu
(President of the Galaxis Astroclub, Arad, Romania)-
The light pollution does not destroy
the sky,
but its image in us.
*
LIGHT POLLUTION
-photos by
1. Bogdan Chiriac
2. Monica Butnaru
*
“ONE STAR AT A TIME”
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Fighting light pollution means
to keep alive the Universe’s vibration.
Today one star.
Tomorrow… one constellation.
*
ORION AND THE WINTER TRIANGLE
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
NIGHT
-by Irina Cristescu-
Dreams spread into the cosmic infinite
just as the celestial lyres
accompany stars
where the sea has lost
its end.
*
SEA AND SKY
-photos:
1. Storm over the Black Sea,
by Ionut Florea
2 Lightning,
by Alexandru Epure
3. Sidewalk Astronomers in Targoviste,
by Valentin Grigore
4. Starry Sky,
by Valentin Grigore
5. In the Indian Ocean,
by Ali Nishan (Maldives)
6. Rainbow over the Black Sea,
by Ionut Florea
*
DESIRES
-by Lucian Boboc-
I wanted to be Neptune,
to keep in my sceptre
seas, stars and lands.
I wanted to be Perseus,
to sneak with my hurried lightning
among so many gazes.
I wanted to be Polaris,
to fly like a thought
through everybody’s universe.
I wanted to be…
and I was!
*
POLARIS OVER THE MUDDY VOLCANOES,
BUZAU COUNTY, ROMANIA
-photo by Andrei Zincenco-
*
TO ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF ASTRONOMY
-words and photo by Arlene Carol (USA,
residing south of Troy, in Turkey)-
…At the top of Assos,
with Mytilini in the background.
Considering that this place was frequented by Aristotle,
it should beat the Troy location.
Troy may have been, after all,
only a myth.
I think, I believe that Aristotle
was a real human being!!
*
EINSTEIN
(commemorating 55 years since his passing)
-by Boris Marian (Mehr)-
I often think of your violin
and your research.
What do you want from us?
You say
how a ray
curves like a delicate rod,
or like the hair of a woman
from the Milky Way.
The parallels meet one another in stars.
What do they say?
Nothing.
Believe me, all is a circus.
But I don’t understand
what an erg is,
what a quantum is
(my gland becomes blocked here!),
and what kind of square
you invented from “em.”
You are lucky, however,
the years have passed,
but your fans still keep you
in an ideal lift
and love you,
a divine gift.
*
GAM ACTIVITIES OF SARM’S GORJ ASTROCLUB
IN BUMBESTI
-image credit by Marcel Jinca (organizer)-
*
RESEARCH
(celebrating 20 years of the existence of the Hubble telescope)
-by Zigmund Tauberg-
In old times,
people looked curiously at the canopy of heaven,
aspiring to know the truth
about the stars
and about their wonderful secrets.
Later,
people built lunettes and telescopes,
which presented the stars closer.
And then,
in order to see further
and to study more
(is it possible to exist in other worlds
brothers in reason?),
people launched the space telescope,
Hubble,
the eye created
to expand our bit
in the infinite
*
GAM ACTIVITIES OF SARM’S LYRA ASTROCLUB
IN IASI
(led by Ciprian Gurgu)
-photo by Cristian Mihaila-
*
“LIVING LEGEND SERIES”
-by Dominic Diamant-
My anonymous and lonely research about the Cosmos
could provoke a lot of speculations
contradicting the usual laws,
but this time the result was so surprising
that I had to repeat my demonstration
again and again.
None of my fellows from the high elite
(that is permanently in confrontation and agitation)
trusted my theory,
a charade like an avalanche
out of line with the general opinion,
so I had to open the cosmic nucleus of my construction,
unveiling colossal entities that wander in the Universe
and make it become,
like the rhyme and the verse,
a focus of light.
*
JOHANNES STUBLER (Austria,
national ambassador for Astronomers Without Borders)
SALUTES GAM
THROUGH A PHOTOGRAPHIC POEM
*
THE IMAGINARY SPEECH OF A LIVING LEGEND IN ASTROPOETRY
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Teach
better than anyone
and learn
better than anyone
that nobody can confiscate
the heavens,
astronomy
and astropoetry.
Astropoetry comes to complete astronomy.
Astropoetry is both a part and a friend
of astronomy.
Astropoetry is proof that
astronomy has been assimilated
in a complex manner.
Astronomy along with astropoetry
come as a demonstration that
homo cosmicus feels truly free
to understand more
about the heavens.
*
NEWTON’S APPLE
-artwork by Arlene Carol (USA,
residing in Turkey)-
*
GENESIS
(humorous variant)
-by Emil Ianus-
What was first?
The hen or the egg?
I don’t know,
but I’m sure that during the Genesis
the stars’ rise
was stimulated by a feast
with mayonnaise.
*
M51
-photo by Marian Lucian Achim-
*
ONLINE OR BY TELESCOPE
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Messier Marathon -
a human unity of measure
for a cosmic trip.
Visiting 110 galaxies, clusters of stars, and nebulae
in a few hours
(although just by sight)
means in fact to outrun
considerably
the speed of light.
*
ORION’S GREAT NEBULA
-photos by
1. Alexandru Tudorica (made in the Canary Islands);
2. Andreea Fazacas (remote astronomy; made in Romania
by using on-line the GRAS-03 telescope from Australia).
3. Marian Lucian Achim (made in Romania)
*
STRIKING OUT ON MARS
(fantasy)
-by Marge Simon (USA,
editor of Star*Line - the Journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association,
laureate of the Rhysling Award and the Bram Stoker Award for her poetry)-
A bird drops a seed
on a barren island,
corrupting it with life,
all normal and natural.
The first man on Mars
proclaimed it a new frontier.
In homage to Armstrong,
he whacked a baseball
into the thin atmosphere.
Some say it landed in a crater,
a home run for Mankind.
You and I were eager to volunteer
to be part of the first Colony.
We were married in our uniforms,
designed for other world precursors.
We didn't know decades ago
how green and unready we were
to pioneer an alien land,
castaways on a barren planet.
Our children are patriotic puppets.
Each day they recite allegiances
to corporate entities that now rule here.
Each day they hum anthems,
salute a conglomerate of flags.
We plan a holo trip to Old Rio
to forget what life is like
in this unnatural colony,
seedlings on a corrupt isle.
*
MARGE SIMON SALUTES GAM
FROM FLORIDA
*
HAIKU
-by Steve Sneyd (UK,
director of Hilltop Press and editor of Data Dump,
laureate of the Peterson Trophy)-
Pluto is turning red
they tell us. Warns us of what
force melts its cold face?
*
LESSON ABOUT PLANETS
-photographic poem
(1. Venus and Mercury
2. The Rise of Saturn
3. Mars Among Great Stars)
by Valentin Grigore-
*
PLANETS
-by Tihon Tit-
There is a solar system with 8 planets
(or more!),
which exist
for our future.
*
2010, APRIL 8TH:
VENUS-MERCURY CONJUNCTION
-photo by Casper ter Kuile (Holland,
one of the leading members of the Dutch Meteor Society)-
*
“IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?”
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
The planets,
which orbit slowly superior spheres of light,
and the comets,
which run more or less periodically,
are the greatest sustainers of the personality
of a solar system.
So I’d like to watch an exoplanet
as much as
I’d like to watch an exocomet.
*
LOVE IN THE UNIVERSE
-artwork by Diana Alexandra Ardelean-
*
ASTRAL SURREALISTIC SCENERY
-artwork by Cristian Daniel Grigore-
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*
EXOPLANETARY
-by Dominic Diamant-
I was glad for the discovery
of an exoplanet, not too far,
and promising to become
a new refuge feeding humanity.
I was sure that a catastrophe
cannot destroy integrally
a world condemned to repress
its own dream to traverse the Universe.
I was glad that the people
have a wonderful next chance,
which should not be missed
for their own salvation.
So I suppose that sooner or later
they will possess that planet,
maybe not too hospitable,
but the only one able to make them optimistic.
*
IN THE MIRROR
-artwork by Arlene Carol (USA,
residing in Turkey)-
*
HOMING PIGEONS
(fantasy)
-by Marge Simon (USA,
editor of Star*Line - the Journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association,
laureate of the Rhysling Award and the Bram Stoker Award for her poetry)-
We bring frozen zygotes numbering billions
diverse flora and fauna for adaptations,
to engineer another Earth-type planet
with creatures suited to habitable worlds.
Circling Gliese 581, we find
a world much like our own,
at a stage like Earth's Pleistocene,
almost tailor-made to our objectives.
Our shuttle lands with plans
to alter and improve the higher species,
send evolution speeding forward.
Yet what we thought was primitive is not.
This is a rejuvenated world, ruled by lifeforms
with intelligence that far surpasses ours.
Our race began here millenniums past,
adaptive products of their own invention.
They'd placed us in the system we call Sol.
"So what are we doing here?" we ask.
In the austere cold of their examination room,
the natives tell us we've come home.
*
ASTRAL LONGING
-cartoon by Radu Bercea-
*
OUT THERE
-by Gelu Claudiu Radu-
I’m so far away.
I feel myself so alone.
Exoplanet.
*
IN THE MIRROR
-artwork by Arlene Carol (USA,
residing in Turkey)-
*
EXOPLANETS
-by Ion(ut) Moraru-
I walked next to another sun,
on a planet like Jupiter,
on an orbit just like of another Earth…
Afterwards, dizzy,
I left the carousel.
*
TOWARDS THE UNIVERSE
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
BEASTS NOT OF BETHLEHEM
(fantasy)
-by Marge Simon (USA,
editor of Star*Line - the Journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association,
laureate of the Rhysling Award and the Bram Stoker Award for her poetry)-
We came here to create
a viable ecology, one that
survives on its own on this
arid, barren world
When Earthlab sends us
genetically altered camels,
we have no reason to think
they'd be any different
from their Bactrian cousins.
As ideal beasts of burden
they prove difficult and dangerous
to train, yet we must proceed.
Six men volunteer to take them out
with cargo to see the barren sands,
but we lose transmission contact
soon after they fade from sight.
They say a camel will eat anything,
and these deviants prove it so:
lichens, biocatalytic organisms,
spacesuits, flesh and bone.
We tell ourselves they will adapt,
that lifeforms will breed in their dung,
in time, give birth to a new ecology.
Yet however we try to rationalize it,
all we can admit to is a failed success
that leaves us with uneasy dreams.
*
IN THE MIRROR
-artwork by Arlene Carol (USA,
residing in Turkey)-
*
“INTERNATIONAL DARK SKIES WEEK”
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
littler luxury light
but more stars in the night
not artificial glory
but cosmic simplicity
*
ORION OVER TARGOVISTE
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
HAIKU
-by Dominic Diamant-
we assault the star dust
but do not see the sand
replete by galaxies
*
M61 IN VIRGO
-photo by Adrian Bruno Sonka-
*
OF THE HEAVENS
-by Elena Andreea Alecu-
a magic hand
made a window in my soul
to the solitary world
of the stars
the blue light
of the sky
hit my eyes
an opening word
a mute scream in my ears
disability of understanding
absence of choice
all uplift my dream
which I live
trying to complete
the entire nothing
which gives birth to
the imprisoned sublime
under the hard padlock
without shine
of the small ego
of mine
*
BEFORE A NIGHT OF “STAR PEACE” IN TARGOVISTE
-choreography and photos by Valentin Grigore
*
NIGHTS OF STAR PEACE
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe;
During the global human chain
in the honour of Star Peace
we can understand better that
Sirius with Procyon are brothers,
Antares, Aldebaran and Achernar,
Arcturus and Canopus,
or Deneb and Altair
are brothers too,
Capella and Vega are sisters,
Castor and Pollux are even twin brothers,
and so on…
The two celestial poles
are also parts of the stellar chain of brothers,
so that looking larger
the Little Chariot (with Polaris)
is a northern brotherly group
of Octans (with Sigma Octantis) -
placed somewhere between two other famous teams
of the astral family,
the Southern Cross and the Magellanic Clouds …
*
NORTH AND SOUTH IN THE SKY
-photographic poem
(1. Cygnus or the Northern Cross Area over Romania
2. Southern Cross-Centaurus Area over Chile
3. Magellanic Clouds over Chile)
by Alexandru Tudorica-
*
HAIKU
-by Valentin Grigore and Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
when people are stars
human souls are astral lights
and stars are people
*
SARM’S HUMAN CHAIN FOR STAR PEACE
ON THE VOIEVODES HILL, TARGOVISTE
-photographic poem by Ciprian Grigorescu;
choreography by Valentin Grigore-
*
WE NEED TO LAUGH ABOUT THIS
-by Arlene Carol (USA,
residing in Turkey-
I've been spending much too much time on the computer...
My eyesight is failing…
But it has it's benefits.
I stepped outside for a breath of fresh air
(it's night and the dairy facility is closed,
so no smoke in the air)
and looked up at the stars.
I have been aware for a long time
that my left eye is where
my vision problems seem to be originating
so I tend to only
use my right eye to read.
But when I looked into the evening sky,
I was surprised to see
TWO stars with my left eye
for every single star my right eye was seeing.
My world has become filled with binary stars.
Isn't that fun?
*
HAIGA
-by Gerald England (UK,
editor of New Hope International,
honorary member of the International Writers and Artists Association,
laureate of Ted Slade Award)-
*
HAIGA
(WATCHING ORION)
-by Iulian Olaru-
*
“HERE COMES THE SUN”
AND
“WALKING ON THE MOON”
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Two old fine songs
(one by Beatles and one by Sting),
two new global programs of remote astronomy
(one during the Sun Day and one during the Lunar Week),
and another case in which art fuses with astronomy,
and all becomes an act of culture,
a mixture of craters, notes, sunspots,
thoughts, lunar seas, sounds, solar prominences, and feelings
so unitary
that we can easily sing also:
“Here Comes the Moon”
and
“Walking on the Sun”.
*
WALKING ON THE AFRICAN DESERT
-photo by Andrei Zincenco and Cristina Tinta Vass-
*
“SUN DAY”
-by Costin Negoita-
The light shrieks, shrieks, shrieks…
with laughter.
*
SUN DAY IN TARGU JIU
BY SARM’S GORJ ASTROCLUB
-photo by Marcel Jinca-
*
2010 APRIL 12, MORNING SKY
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Just between the Sun Day and the Solar Week,
the brightest night bodies,
the Moon and Jupiter,
meet one another.
Simple coincidence?
Or heavenly ceremony?
*
VISION
-image by Arlene Carol (USA,
residing in Turkey)-
*
SUN
-astropoem with an auto-portrait
by Victor Chifelea
(a very meditative person)-
The explosive shows
of the fire globe
should not
delude you.
Nobody knows
his real personality
hidden in the shadow of his mantle
of photons.
*
SOLAR FACES
-photo-collection
1. Sunrise Over the Black Sea,
by Ioana Panoiu:
2. Sundog Over Bucharest,
by Catalin Paduraru “Sarpe”:
3. Halo Over The Parachuting Tower in Bucharest,
by Mihai Curtasu
4. Solar Corona Over The Carpathian Mountains,
by Catalin Paduraru “Sarpe”
5. Glory Over the Fagaras Mountains, Romania
by Radu Gherase
6. Partiality of an Annular Eclipse with Sunspots Over Maldives,
by Thomas Goodey (U.K.) and Dimitrie Olenici
7. The Sun Over Morocco,
by Andrei Zincenco and Cristina Tinta-Vass
8. Sunset Over Bucharest,
by Mihai Curtasu
9. Sunset Over Neapole, Italy,
by Cristina Slovineanu
10. Sunset Over Marseille, France,
by George Potrivitu
11. Sunset Over the Macin Mountains, Romania
by Ioana Panoiu
12. Sunset Over Observatories of the Canary Islands,
by Alexandru Tudorica
*
OPTION
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
300,000 km/s.
There is a certain star element
that always comes in flight.
So people have to choose to be
spots, transparencies, or blazes
in the light.
*
“SUN DAY” AND SUNSET IN TARGOVISTE
-photos by Valentin Grigore-
*
REVELATION
-by Charles Swannell (USA,
professor of English literature)-
The mystery of the darkness among the stars
Is not its absence of light.
The continuing euphoria
In moving through that mirage of an abyss:
That there is more and more and more
Light.
*
SOLAR VISION
-artwork by Arlene Carol (USA,
residing in Turkey)-
*
SUN
-by Ion(ut) Moraru-
Just like the photosynthesis process
for plants
I like to load my closed eyes
from the Sun.
Then through the stems of my hands
I want to realize things
which can fill with oxygen
the atmosphere of the people
from around me.
*
SOLAR WEEK IN BUMBESTI
BY SARM’S GORJ ASTROCLUB
-image credit by Marcel Jinca (organizer)-
*
WHO OWNS THE SUN?
-by Marge Simon (USA,
editor of Star*Line - the Journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association,
laureate of the Rhysling Award and the Bram Stoker Award for her poetry)-
Who owns the sun,
the tides, the sea?
Alternatives for energy,
the price for use is free.
Yet politicians intervene
& wars are fought for fossil fuel.
The way things are, it cannot be,
to use Sol's vibrant energy,
& that's what worries me.
*
SUNRISE CLOUDS IN THE AFRICAN DESERT
-photo by Cristina Tinta-Vass-
*
“SOLAR WEEK”
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Helios,
a long time ago
we were envy that you
use to walk in the sky
by your flying chariot.
But now we feel better
because in the meantime we’ve created
a terrible combination:
a telescope and a mylar filter.
It’s just our chariot
by which
we can visit you!
*
BEAUTY WITHOUT BORDERS:
ROMANIAN GIRLS WATCH THROUGH THE TELESCOPE
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-
*
HEY SUN!
-by Danut Ionescu (New Zealand;
member of the Auckland Astronomical Association;
born in Romania)-
Take some of my ash
Because I see
No sunspots on your face
*
GINA AND DANUT IONESCU
SALUTES GAM FROM AUCKLAND
*
SUN
-by Dan Mitrut-
the dragon of Sisyphus
tries to darken the great star
the night grows
while life fondles
the chaste forests of the moon
fortunately
the mythological hero
hides the sun
in a mantle of light
and pass unseen
to the people’s world
*
VALENTIN GRIGORE’S SOLAR DEMONSTRATION
IN TARGOVISTE
*
STAR PARADOX
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Our sun is not a big star,
but it is alive,
so let’s enjoy it!
The Ring Nebula in Lyra is 200 times
more luminous than our sun,
but it is a dying star!
*
POETIC SUN
(solar halo, sundogs, sun pillar)
-photographic poem by Ciprian Grigorescu-
*
CHARIOTEER’S PAIN
OR AN ECLIPSING BINARY VARIABLE STAR
OR EPSILON AURIGAE TANKA
(dedication to the project
“Citizen Sky”)
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
equal masses but
so bright primary baited
by dark companion
reason for strange eclipses
too small to become mythic
*
ADRIAN BRUNO SONKA
(coordinator of the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory,
and laureate of the American Association of Variable Star Observers
for over 10,000 observations)
SALUTES GAM AND ITS ASTROPOETRY PROGRAM
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
SATURN
-by Dan Mitrut-
misunderstood Saturn
the philosophers’ stone in the solar system
the cheap dust learns to sketch perfection
what kind of bridges
can be thrown
over the Cassini Division?
*
SATURN’S SEASON HAS BEGUN!
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
“SATURN WATCH”
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Although we see you
as the ringed planet,
in fact
your glorious ring
concentrates
so many ringlets, satellites and particles,
just as a glorious consciousness
concentrates
so many feelings, ideas and thoughts.
*
VISION ABOUT SATURN
-artwork by Calin Niculae-
*
SATURN
(cosmic fantasy)
-by Victor Chifelea-
Crazed of love,
Saturn imprisoned
his fancy woman
like in a cage of jealousy.
Then, deprived of any kind of joy,
she preferred to run towards the Sun,
an unfulfilled wife,
smitted with a photonic drunkenness.
And the villainous bridegroom
remained obsolete, cold and apathetic
like in a space cage,
surrounded by the ring
of the missed gage.
*
SATURN FOR ALL IN TARGOVISTE
BY SARM
-photos and choreography by Valentin Grigore-
*
SATURN
-by Ion(ut) Moraru-
Saturn is more beautiful than a star.
The rain of Helium
of the gentleman with a famous hat
falls through a fog of Hydrogen,
as if he would sweat.
*
SATURN WATCH IN BUMBESTI
BY SARM’S GORJ ASTROCLUB
-image credit by Marcel Jinca-
*
SATURN FOR ALL ON THE VOIEVODES HILL, TARGOVISTE,
AN EVENT OF SARM
-photo by Ciprian Grigorescu-
*
SATURN’S MONOLOGUE
-by Dominic Diamant-
My dear cosmic fellows,
maybe you look askance at me,
but I say that it is important
who you are,
where you are,
and especially what you do
with your precious friends.
I feel good with my own condition
and with my fine ring,
I can be a kind of Ariel
influencing your lives,
making a 3-year orbital tour,
and oscillating this year
between Libra and Virgo.
Sometimes I need to be
quite taciturn,
but you always recognize me:
I am Saturn!
*
SATURN
-photo by Lucian Curelaru-
*
PRAISE TO ASTRONAUTICS
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Rockets and shuttles -
the boats of astronomy
in the cosmic sea
*
FUTURE ASTRONAUTICS
-astropoem in artworks by Mircea Muresanu-
*
HERE
-by Costin Negoita-
So many people
look indifferent at stars
and pray to their immortality,
naming it time and peace.
Let’s call the meetings of the depths
and maybe in the universe of our minds
we shall understand the sense
of our birth here.
*
“DISCOVER THE UNIVERSE”,
AN EXHIBITION MADE DURING GAM
BY THE BOREALIS ASTROCLUB IN CLUJ-NAPOCA, ROMANIA
-photos by Horatiu Fluieras (organizer)-
*
COSMIC AMAZONS
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe;
photo by Arlene Carol (USA,
residing in Turkey)-
Greek mythology gave
fascinating heroes and elements,
many of them visible today
as constellations.
However, when I was an adolescent,
I was impressed by the stories about amazons,
and felt myself bereft
that none of them was written in the sky
as a constellation.
But after a few years
I found out a reason
for a pale and late satisfaction:
Between the Red Planet and Jupiter
there are
(although invisible by the naked eye)
the double asteroid Antiope
and the Mars-crossing asteroid Hippolyta,
the highest representatives
of the amazons.
*
OVIDIU VADUVESCU (Canary Islands,
discoverer of asteroids,
and leader of the EURONEAR project;
born in Romania)
SALUTES GAM FROM THE O.R.M., LA PALMA,
AND WISHES EVERYBODY
“CLEAR SKIES AND MANY GLOBAL ASTRONOMICAL SUCCESSES”
*
TWO COLLEAGUES AT SUCEAVA PLANETARIUM (ROMANIA),
CEZAR LESANU AND DIMITRIE OLENICI
SALUTE GAM FROM MALDIVES…
…one from his improvised “studio” of radio astronomy,
and one near his photo-exhibition:
…and then both of them from the ecuator:
*
ALIN TOLEA (USA,
astronomer at John Hopkins University, Baltimore;
born in Romania)
SALUTES GAM FROM MARYLAND
*
MIRUNA POPESCU (U.K.,
astronomer at Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland;
born in Romania)
SALUTES GAM THROUGH AN ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY AND AN ARTWORK
Moon-Venus-Jupiter Conjunction over Armagh, 2008 December 1st,
photo by Miruna Popescu
Moon-Venus-Jupiter Conjunction over Armagh,
artwork by Miruna Popescu
Miruna Popescu next to a poster belonging to
"From Earth to the Universe" Irish travelling astronomy exhibition
*
THILINA HEENATIGALA (Sri Lanka,
IYA2009 national coordinator,
GAM 2010 Physical Events working group coordinator
and organizer of the global network of leaders)
CELEBRATES BOTH
GAM AND HIS BIRTHDAY IN COLOMBO
*
CRISTINA TINTA-VASS
(one of the winners in the Earth and Sky astrophotography contest of IYA2009)
SALUTES GAM FROM THE AFRICAN DESERT
*
ASTEROIDS
-by Ion(ut) Moraru-
In their ring dance
the asteroids perceive
a mountain as high as a nail on Mars
or a Jupiter with holo-moods,
and some of them start to the Earth
to scare the dinosaurs or…
who knows…?
*
VALENTIN GRIGORE’S PRESS CONFERENCE ABOUT GAM
IN TARGOVISTE
*
“WRITE YOUR NAME IN THE SKY”
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
“I’d like to discover an asteroid,”
says an astronomer,
“to give it my name.”
“I want to buy an asteroid,”
says a rich man,
“to give it my name.”
“With or without your names,
we are here,”
say the asteroids,
“so we are already written in the sky.”
*
WHAT’S ABOUT MY NAME?
-cartoon by Radu Bercea-
*
HAIKU
-by Gelu Claudiu Radu-
New asteroid.
I’m going to find
about the rent.
*
ISS AMONG THE STARS
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
ASTEROIDS
-by Dan Mitrut-
Blind monsters
become fervid
close to planets
and light their own trunks,
menacing chaotically
the foundations of the worlds.
*
VALENTIN GRIGORE PRESENTS GUY OTTEWELL’S
ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR 2010 ON COLUMNA TV, TARGOVISTE
Note:
This superb annual atlas-calendar was created in 1974 in the U.S.A.
by a British complex personality, Guy Ottewell,
and is sponsored by Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina
and the Astronomical League.
Its first cover is always adorned by a painting by Guy Ottewell,
and its astronomical content is always adorned by astropoetical quotations
from all times and all over the world.
*
INTO THE NIGHT
-by Alfredo Caronia (Italy,
co-discoverer of 3 asteroids)-
Solitary, elusive
asteroid
floating in the sky
coveted, wandering prey
in an incessant night
of passionate,
enthusiastic research
lived between expectations
and hopes
postponed the next night.
Sensations which vanish
along with fresh outbursts
of joyful surprise
in front of the confirmation of a discovery;
is denied the pleasure of a new attempt
full of feverish anxiety,
or are suppressed tensions
preceding news.
Emotions, setbacks,
appointments,
hours nervously scanned before returning to the dome,
reduced to a tangle of memories
fragmented as a sheet of paper in the trash
and dispersed over the great expectations of nocturnal conquests,
while a mechanical eye,
without souls who spend their time sliding the sky and its traces,
sum blocks of data in mathematical cadences
in intervals
repeated over a night with automatic shooting;
The seal of nights spent in anxiety
and every dream renewed after laborious researches,
the jump from his chair, manifestation of youthful joy,
are frustrated
in front of the ritual process of a robot without pauses and gasps
at the sight of a sky that still enchants us;
lonely asteroid, sought by many amateur astronomers
in the sequence of most nights, spent between delusions or smiles
I greet you,
I've lost you,
as a one time event
or while you fade
like a nostalgic memory.
*
ALFREDO CARONIA SALUTES GAM
*
2010, APRIL 14-18:
MARS-M44 ENCOUNTER
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
What an irony
the warrior Mars stung by
a modest “beehive”
I cannot see this
cynical clouds sting my view
I feel just like Mars
*
MARS-M44 CONJUNCTION
-photos by
1. Laurentiu Alimpie (Timisoara)
2. Catalin Timosca (Turda)
3. Valentin Grigore (Targoviste)
*
THE UNIVERSE AT A POOR POET’S COMMAND
-by Dominic Diamant-
In Virtualia
I am the master of all
so I work unimpeded on the Great Book.
which has to carry my luminous essence
towards the infinite,
pulsating in all that is alive,
in the raving galaxies which appear
from my inspired quill
and from my stellar skill.
*
ENJOY THE HEAVENS
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
VENUS AND SATURN
-by David Turner (U.K.,
a guest of UK’s Authors)-
In the faded-jeans blue
Of an April evening
The thinnest sliver of a new moon
Points at bright Venus.
Caught in its sharp horns
The ghost of a full moon
Smiles sadly in earthly light.
Later,
Spring stars whirl about Polaris,
High Ursa Major prowls near
Her young offspring
And the Milky Way
Scatters stars like dust
Over Cassiopeia's skirts.
Venus gives way to Saturn,
As is right,
Since, fiery young passion,
In the end,
Always defers
To
Sedate old age
Contemplating
The slow wheeling of time.
*
VENUS, MOON AND PLEIADES
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
TO THOSE WHO STEAL DREAMS
THROUGH LIGHT POLLUTION
-epigram by Emil Ianus-
See?
They feel nothing
about their deeds, excepting…
universal gravity.
*
THIEFT OF DREAMS
-cartoon by Radu Bercea-
*
HOPING TO WATCH A HALO DURING THE COMING LUNAR WEEK
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe;
photos by
1. Sorin Hotea
2. Ioan Agavriloaiei
A lunar halo -
I can see
a sacred gift
or a sweet fairy.
*
SOME VOLCANO
-by Arlene Carol-
As I strive to see the stars tonight,
my only vision is of
eerie clouds thinly veiling the light of the moon.
Some volcano with an unpronounceable name
in a far away land brings Europe humbly to its knees,
forcing us to relinquish some of the control
we think we have over our lives.
There are times when
‘cosmic wonder' is much closer
than we realize.
*
"VOLCANIC" CLOUDS OVER ROMANIA
-photos by
1. George Priceputu (Targu Neamt)
2. Sorin Beleuta (Bucharest)
*
BENEATH THE ASH CLOUD
-by John Francis Haines (U.K.,
leader of the Eight Hand Gang - British network of the SF poets,
and editor of its newsletter Handshake -
Across a clear sky
Unsullied by vapour trails,
A meteor streaks.
*
"VOLCANIC" CLOUDS OVER TARGOVISTE
-photo by Ciprian Grigorescu-
*
MOON-MERCURY-VENUS CONJUNCTION
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
“Enough,”
says the Sun
to the closest planets,
“you have to come
after me,
not to run after that seductive,
but illusory,
golden beauty.”
*
MOON AND VENUS OVER BACAU, ROMANIA
-photographic poem by Dan Mitrut-
*
CYRANO DE BERGERAC AND THE MOON
-by Zigmund Tauberg-
When Cyrano said
that he knows
how a man can visit the Moon,
he emitted more hypotheses,
many full of naivity,
but one of them truly fit:
yes, he said he can fly
by riding a rocket.
And because three centuries after him
rockets carried people to the Moon
(a scientific revolution),
it is obvious, Cyrano had hit
the best solution.
*
MOON AND VENUS NEXT TO
THE PARACHUTING TOWER IN BUCHAREST
-photo by Mihai Curtasu-
*
MOON
-by Victor Chifelea-
Hieratic,
silver creation,
crazy pretext of Terra
to consider herself
the centre of the Universe.
*
BETWEEN THE SOLAR WEEK AND THE LUNAR WEEK
-photographic poem by Ciprian Grigorescu-
*
LUNAR CRATERS
-by Maria Sima-
Moon’s complex:
“I have pits on my cheeks.”
*
CRATERS COPERNICUS AND REINHOLD
-photo by Lucian Curelaru-
*
HAIKU
-by Steve Sneyd (UK,
director of Hilltop Press and editor of Data Dump,
laureate of the Peterson Trophy)-
In Moon’s dark cellar
water waits ready to chill wine
to toast our return
*
MOON AND VENUS
-photo by Catalin Timosca-
*
MOON
-by Lucian Boboc-
A song,
a drop of astonishment
keeps my memory awake.
Blue passion of joy,
tear of reddish necklace,
you cry and fall
into transient happiness.
Who are you?
A heavenly body or a mystery?
Stopping and dreaming,
listening to all,
throwing bits of hope,
making an altar to a new life,
it is too much,
but yet too little.
From all and from nothing
you have created a unique smile.
I bow bashful to you
and offer you only one thought:
a sky,
always with you in it.
*
MOON OVER THE VOIEVODES HILL, TARGOVISTE
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-
*
MOON
-by Boris Marian (Mehr)-
I had big problems with the Moon.
Being a lunatic,
I used to climb high roofs without fear.
Then arriving on the Moon at midnight,
I used to tell her my secrets,
and she seemed to understand me,
because for me a crater
was dearer than a brother.
*
MOON
-photos by
1. Marian Lucian Achim
2. Sirius Astronomical Association, Birlad (led by teacher Ioan Adam)
3. Alexandru Tudorica
*
MOON NIGHT
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
I’ve chosen a Moon Night
during the “Lunar Week”.
Yes,
this night I shall not use my telescope
and shall not be interested in technical details.
I shall just isolate myself in a park
and shall look at the Moon
like at the mysterious goddess
of nocturnal beauty.
You are so poetic!
Would you like to whisper something,
Selene?
*
POETIC MOON
-photo by Ciprian Grigorescu-
*
INTERESTING THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU TURN OFF YOUR BRAIN!
-by Arlene Carol-
for a long time now, i've found myself resisting
the very human desire to 'label' things -
behaviors, images, ideas...
what ever happened to the wonder of it all?
why are we humans compelled to give everything a name?
is it our way of making sense of what we see, experience, feel?
there are some experiences that don't need labels.
just try it sometime.
go out on a moonless night,
look up at the sky and STOP thinking...
concentrate on your breathing and just look at what is.
feel the wonder.
words only diminish the grandeur of it all.
silence wakes the spirit and the soul sometimes, too.
*
GAM IN IASI
BY SARM’S LYRA ASTROCLUB
-photo by Cristian Mihaila and Ciprian Gurgu-
*
“WORLD NIGHT
IN DEFENSE OF THE STARLIGHT”
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Seeing this title like a two-line poem
of a GAM global program,
I asked a few people:
“What do you do in defense of the starlight?”
And here are their answers:
“Are you crazy? What is this stupidity?”
(an egocentric ignoramus)
“I have other priorities for people.”
(a politician)
“I’d like to do something for it, but what is my earning?”
(a businessman)
“I don’t care, I am too poor.”
(an unemployed person)
“Nothing, I am too busy.”
(a careerist)
Nothing? A little respect, however!
“With or without us, the stars will continue to shine.”
(a philosopher)
“We should leave the stars in the care of God, their Creator.”
(a priest)
And from respect to hope…
“I try to impress the people by writing about the stars’ beauty.”
(an astropoet)
“I assume to speak about the stars’ importance through mass media
and to demonstrate it by organizing astronomical public observations.”
(an astronomer)
“I’m ready to become a part of every astronomical public activity.”
(a cultured citizen)
“If I have an official mandat, I arrest anybody who steals starlight.”
(a policeman)
“Every evening I ask my parents to show me a star.”
(a child)
*
LITTLE GIRL AND A TELESCOPE
-photo by Cristian Mihaila-
*
HAIKU
-by Iulian Olaru-
Jocular telescope -
on the lip of a star
a ladybird
*
LOOKING FOR CLEAR SKIES
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
“EARTH DAY”
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Every day the Earth dances for us
as a rotation around its axes
during its motion of revolution around the Sun.
Let’s sing together after its dance today
and maybe our planet will feel that sometimes
we are able to love.
*
EARTHLY SEQUENCES:
-photo-collection
1. Spring Flower,
by Valentin Grigore
2. Watching the Stars in the Bucegi Mountains,
by Alexandru Tudorica
3. Bucegi Natural Reservation,
by Alexandru Epure
4. Southern Scenery with Cerro Tololo Observatories in Chile,
by Alexandru Tudorica
5. Earth and Sly,
by Monica Butnaru
6. Fogbow in La Palma, Canary Islands,
by Alexandru Tudorica
7. Halo around the Romanian Gliding Monument in Sanpetru, Brasov,
by Alexandru Conu
8. Artwork, by Arlene Carol (U.S.A./Turkey)
9. Blossoms in the Netherlands,
by Casper ter Kuile (Holand)
10. Glory over the Piatra Craiului (King’s Stone) Mountains, Romania,
by Ioana Panoiu
11. Birds and a Sunpillar in Targoviste,
by Valentin Grigore
12. Noctilucent Clouds over Volga, Russia,
by Alexandru Tudorica
13. Pileus Cloud,
by Mihai Curtasu
14. Rainbow over Bucharest,
by Catalin Paduraru “Sarpe”
15. Cloudbow in La Palma, Canary Islands,
by Alexandru Tudorica
*
PARADOXIST DISTICH
-by Florentin Smarandache (USA,
mathematician,
creator of International Paradoxist Literary Movement,
and multiple international laureate for literature;
born in Romania)-
When rising to the Sky
We expect the unexpected...
*
VALENTIN GRIGORE’S PRESENTATION ON GAM AND EARTH DAY
AT THE MATEI BASARAB SCHOOL IN TARGOVISTE
*
OBSERVATIONAL EVENING AT THE HYTHADO SCHOOL IN MALDIVES
-image credit by Dimitrie Olenici-
*
WAITING FOR LYRIDS
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
The spring is very busy to revive nature
So that it is not rich in meteor showers.
Come on, Lyrids, to save the honour of the sky
Amazed by the perfume of blossoms and flowers.
*
A SPORADIC METEOR DURING THE LYRIDS 2010
OVER PRIBOIU, TARGOVISTE
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
THE LYRIDS, SOME THOUGHTS
-by Alastair McBeath (U.K.,
Vice-President of the International Meteor Organization,
and Britain’s Society for Popular Astronomy Meteor Director)-
Astronomical observing from Britain is always a hit and miss business,
because the temperate maritime climate here
produces such unpredictably variable weather.
No two consecutive nights are the same,
and there are never any guarantees of better skies
for a particularly important occasion.
Consequently, my view of the Lyrids has been tempered by the fact
I have very rarely been able to see much of them at all!
My strongest Lyrid memories date back to 1984,
when I enjoyed what is still my best set of observations for the shower,
a series of six consecutive nights of meteor watching, that began on April 20-21.
The peak was well-observed under clear skies on April 21-22,
and the seventy meteors in 5h30m then (LM +6.0) remains
my highest meteor tally for a night in April.
There were many fine, bright Lyrids,
but the one I still recall more than twenty-five years later was one I didn't actually see.
I was reclining, facing the eastern sky, at 01:24:20 UT,
when a brilliant blue-white glow lit-up the northeastern horizon,
from below the rooftops in that direction to around 30° elevation,
centred near azimuth 053°.
The brightness increased steadily for about a second,
remained fairly constant for perhaps another two or three, and then faded away.
It was as if the nearly-full Moon had appeared in that quarter of the sky,
and then vanished - yet the waning gibbous Moon was still nearly an hour from rising.
It could only have been an especially brilliant meteor, the brightest I'd 'never' seen,
and it is still, nearly 18,000 meteors later,
the brightest meteor I failed to spot anything of at all while outside observing!
Luckily, two meteor watching colleagues lying out
on a hillside overlooking the North Sea inland of Aberdeen in Scotland,
about 250 km north of me, had spotted this event properly,
which turned out to have been a brilliant Lyrid fireball, way out over the sea.
When I finally met one of the two for the first time at an astronomical meeting
in Aberdeen in February 1997, we were both able to relive the event,
as if it had only just happened.
The 1984 shower had yet more to offer though.
On the last night of the six, April 25-26, well after the maximum,
so meteor rates were not especially high,
I was dutifully monitoring the sky once more.
About an hour into the meteor watch, just before 22:00 UT,
I was alerted to the faint light of an auroral ray to the northeast,
and a few isolated rays were visible at roughly half-hourly intervals after this
for a couple of hours.
Up till around 00:40, the best I'd seen had been an active partial rayed arc near 23:45.
All had been quiet for nearly fifty minutes after that,
when another faint ray appeared, followed rapidly by several more,
which swiftly brightened and started to slip back and forth in the sky past one another
as an active rayed band pushed steadily upwards from the northern horizon.
This was too good to stay still, and with scarcely a thought for the meteors
I could be missing, I was out of my sleeping bag,
alert to the auroral glow all over the northern sky.
After ten minutes or so of this excitement, most rays had vanished once more,
and as it was clear a repeat performance would not be immediately forthcoming,
I returned my concentration to meteors, and resumed my watch at 01h.
Occasional bursts of adrenalin punctuated the next forty minutes
as each new auroral ray manifested, but these faded as the rays did,
until just before 01:35, when the rapid brightening of a further set of rays
heralded another "spectacular".
Within six minutes, the rays had developed into a beautifully bright rayed arc,
with the rays dancing and running along the arc itself in a breathtaking display.
I was off my chair as if it were a greased slide at this!
The rays nudged higher into the sky: near Polaris (55° elevation),
then two pushed on beyond, to a maximum of 60°.
The whole northern sky became alive with silent, pale green-white auroral light,
forming a curtain of awesome proportions, apparently just for my benefit!
Sadly, all too soon, the light began to fade, till just a few, pale,
shortening rays were left.
Then even these dwindled, until by 02:05, all was gone.
With the return of the darker sky, I returned to my meteor watch.
I continued until the sky was too bright to go on at 03h UT
before finally giving in to the inevitable,
and abandoning hope of more auroral or meteor sightings for that night.
But what a night!
*
VALENTIN GRIGORE AND YOUNG LYRID OBSERVERS
-photos by Valentin Grigore-
*
LYRIDS
-by Adrian Sima-
in armours of light
he listens to the city
under the aroma of the gardens
and loosens the meteors -
living stamps of graphite
over the academies
of the night
*
LYRID NIGHT 1 (2010 April 21-22)
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-
*
LYRIDS
-by Dan Mitrut-
red and golden colours
stalk the blue of the twilight
among indigo waves
the moon
like a gap
in the walls of paradise
strong air
a walnut is proud of
its branches with starlings
newcomers
spring meteors
*
LYRID NIGHT 2 (2010 April 22-23)
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-
*
LYRIDS
-by Ion(ut) Moraru-
I stay on a commode chair
and look for ideas for my life’s night.
It’s April now,
the Lyre sings sweetly
and (unexpected dashes)
cherry blossoms explode
under my eyelashes.
*
ISS OVER M31 DURING THE LYRIDS 2010
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-
*
VIRTUAL TRIP
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
planets and comets
“Across The Solar System” -
real fantasy…
and
fantastic reality.
*
VALENTIN GRIGORE’S GAM PRESENTATION
AT SCHOOL 8 IN TARGOVISTE
*
COSMIC ROAD
-by Irina Cristescu-
Timid travellers through cosmic space
we hang thoughts and deeds
by Saturn’s rings,
an ideal for astronomers,
who try tirelessly
to learn from Mercury
to go up to the Sun.
*
CELESTIAL BOWS
-photographic poem by Ionut Florea-
*
ACROSS THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND MORE
-by Boris Marian (Mehr)-
The Sun aches,
the Moon mollifies,
stars are jokers,
Saturn puts a ring on his bald head,
asteroids pass finer and paler,
and I postpone my trip to Lyra,
but I sing it
in a solemn beat.
What would you say
if you’d drink a beer between two fine spheres
with your fancy woman
on the Milky Way?
*
THE BEAUTY OF THE NIGHT
-photo by Cristian Mihaila-
*
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMY DAY
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Let’s celebrate cosmology,
planetology and astrometry,
galactic and extragalactic astronomy,
astrophysics and astrochemisry,
stellar astronomy,
astrobiology and astrophilosophy.
Aesthetically,
this itemization of the profound branches
of the “queen of sciences”
appears like a succession of rhymes.
But only watching and feeling the sky
we can celebrate astronomy
through astropoetry.
*
ASTRONOMY DAY 2010 IN BUMBESTI
BY SARM’S GORJ ASTROCLUB
-photos by Marcel Jinca (organizer)-
*
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
-by Dominic Diamant-
Why does the Sun
set down daily?
To make room to the Moon?
What kind of trifle
chases my light from the sky?
A broken vein.
How small can
a galaxy be?
I pass through a “worm hole”.
Alpha and Beta
on the same frequency.
Two bozones in love.
What kind of supernova
flashes the Universe?
A genial thought.
*
ASTRONOMY DAY 2010 IN SIGHET
BY SARM’S SIGHET ASTROCLUB
-photo by Sorin Hotea (organizer)-
*
REFLECTIONS ON ASTRONOMY DAY 2010...
-by Cathy Hall (Canada,
member of the International Meteor Organization)-
Astronomy Day came... Astronomy Day went...
I wonder what Herschel would have said...
People try to roll up an entire year into a day...
As if they could roll up an entire life into an hour...
It is dark now, and I look outside my window at my world,
At all the lights of the city...
And my mind rolls up an entire universe into a view from a window...
If you tilt your head sideways,
and look at the edge of the earth vertically...
You can imagine that our planet is round...
You can imagine some asteroid with the earth's name on it,
Travelling towards us on its orbit,
And you feel very alone on our earth travelling through space...
The human race has a short memory... a collective forgetfulness...
If the earth will not end today, then there is no harm...
People believe that man rules, that man controls all...
Many have never been taught about nature...
Many have never heard of impact extinctions...
The lights out the window are calm tonight...
The sodium streetlights down below... the eastern stars rising up above...
The earth looks peaceful, calm, contented...
Let us roll up life into the moment...
It is, after all, Astronomy Day...
*
ASTRONOMY DAY 2010 FESTIVAL IN TARGOVISTE
(main organizer: Valentin Grigore)
*
UNIVERSAL MAGNANIMITY
-by Lucian Boboc-
Desperate, he fires his voice
and asks me:
“Where are you coming from?
I’ve just closed the way.”
Then the forgotten quasar quivers,
billions of senescent pins.
I bow myself to him,
open a palm and give him
a few light years.
Youth!
*
CHILDREN AND VALENTIN GRIGORE
AT THE COLUMNA TV STUDIO, TARGOVISTE
*
EVOLUTION
-by Silviu Georgescu-
Twinkles of novae
astral embraces
cosmogony
*
CHILDREN’S STREET ASTRODRAWINGS
IN BUMBESTI
-photographic poem by Marcel Jinca-
*
GENERAL ASTROPOEM
-by Dan Mitrut-
when stars prick your soles
you cry
and step on galactic pins
you feel your hair
becoming just like the foam
of the Milky Way
when stars prick your palms
you laugh
or crucify yourself
on the Southern Cross
and the Northern Cross - Cygnus
a hope
that the stars of your destiny
smile as guides
to the heart of the Cosmos
*
ASTROARTWORK EXHIBITION IN TARGOVISTE
BY THE “BALASA DOAMNA” ART HIGH SCHOOL
(made by students of teacher Carmen Antonescu)
-photos by Valentin Grigore-
*
IN STAR DANCE
-by Irina Cristescu-
Today I find again
what I dreamed in my childhood,
but with a bigger eye,
beyond the seas,
beyond the sun,
in blue constellations,
in the dance of the cosmic river.
Celestial waters become more crystalline,
cardinal points re-invent themselves,
dreams are born in dreams,
and I see myself
synchronized
with the star of my soul,
sharing our corner of sky.
*
DANCE FOR ASTRONOMY DAY 2010
IN TARGOVISTE
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-
*
“GLOBAL STAR PARTY”
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Hey Corruption,
Dictatorship, Persecution, Pollution
and other monsters…
This night you cannot hide the heavens
through your dirty game.
People and stars are the same!
*
SARM’S LYRA ASTROCLUB AMONG STARS
-composition by Cristian Mihaila-
*
STAR PROGRAMS
-by Adrian Sima-
from a war to another
collecting old comets in the coat of porcelain
of my body
without personal light
extinguishing the panes of the galaxies
with fingers of terrestrial grass
saddening like the dance
of a pulsar
stepping over the unripe sap
of my sun
rummaging the earth
in a medieval party
of flowers and stars
*
GLOBAL STAR PARTY IN SIGHET
BY SARM’S SIGHET ASTROCLUB
-photo by Sorin Hotea (organizer)-
*
ASTROFOOD
-cartoon by Radu Bercea-
*
GLOBAL STAR PARTY IN CLUJ
BY THE BOREALIS ASTROCLUB
-photo by Horatiu Fluieras (organizer)-
*
HEAVENLY PARTY
-by Ion(ut) Moraru-
Stars revel,
Saturn exhibits his ring after the vogue,
Mars orientates his wind to the Sun,
Jupiter shows his spot to the Earth,
a supernova telegraphs a coloured flash,
earthlings arch their eyebrows to the sky.
*
GLOBAL STAR PARTY IN TARGOVISTE
-photos by Valentin Grigore-
*
THOUGHT
-by Iulian Olaru-
from a tree branch to another
towards clouds and stars
other and other branches
other and other stars
*
SOME OF THE GAM POSTERS IN ROMANIA
1. by SARM’s Lyra Astroclub in Iasi
2. by SARM’s Gorj Astroclub in Bumbesti
3. by SARM in Targoviste
*
TEARS
-by Tihon Tit-
The Universe threw a divine drop to the Earth,
And the drop became a rivulet,
Then a brave river,
A sea,
Then a proud ocean -
Another tear in the Universe.
*
GAM CLOSING EVENT IN TARGOVISTE
BY SARM
-photos by Valentin Grigore (organizer)-
*
GAM CLOSING EVENT IN BUMBESTI
BY SARM’S GORJ ASTROCLUB
-photos by Marcel Jinca (organizer)-
*
ASTRONOMY
-astropoem with an auto-portrait
by Dan Mitrut-
what kind of wonder
is greater than
the re-discovery of the lost science
of caressing galaxies
to drink their power
by your open pores
means to bring up
a child of light
with your face
who someday will eat
the clay of yourself
and will escape
immortal
to the polar star
*
THE FUTURE OF ASTRONOMY LOOKS GOOD
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-
*
GAM 2010 - LAST STELLAR FLIGHT
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Every end can be a new beginning.
GAM 2010 - last stellar flight…
It’s a gain if it is just an
usual observational night.
*
GAM 2010 -
VENUS’ SALUTE AND THE LAST STELLAR FLIGHT
OVER THE VOIEVODES HILL AND THE DEALU MONASTERY
NEAR TARGOVISTE
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-
*
And so it was the first edition of the
Global Astronomy Month in April 2010.
But that was not all
for the lovers of astro-photo-art-poetry creativity…
*
PHOTO-COLLAGE COLLECTION
FOR SARM’S NATIONAL CONTEST “ASTRO-FOTO 2010”, TARGOVISTE
1. “Astro-Foto 2010” Logo,
by Calin Niculae and Valentin Grigore;
2. ISS over Targoviste,
by Valentin Grigore (event organizer);
3. “Astro-Foto 2010” Poster,
by Alexandru Sebastian Grigore and Valentin Grigore;
4. Mars,
by Lucian Curelaru;
5. Surprise in the African Desert,
by Cristina Tinta
6. Milky Way,
by Alexandru Tudorica;
7. Parallel Worlds,
by Monica Butnaru;
8. Stars of the Past,
by Cristina Tinta-Vass
9. Shanghai Financial Center among Stars,
by Catalin Paduraru “Sarpe”;
10. Jupiter,
by Lucian Curelaru;
11. Observatories in the Chilean Ands,
by Alexandru Tudorica
*
GAM EXHIBITION AND READING OF ASTROPOETRY
-photos by Valentin Grigore-
In 2010 April 29th
SARM organized the GAM international astropoetry reading
at the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory
(an institution celebrating 100 years of existence and which,
along with the Bucharest Astroclub,
had received the Winning Award for the best plan B
of the Galilean Nights cornerstone project
of the International Year of Astronomy 2009).
The spectacle, adorned by astro-artworks
by students of the Balasa Doamna Art High School from Targoviste,
began with an international mini-exhibition of astropoetry books
in three languages (English, French and Romanian)...
On the table,
1st column:
-First Star I See Tonight (2007),
by Robert L. Eklund (USA), essays and original astropoems
-Star Names - Their Lore and Meaning (republished by
the Dover Publications; first edition in 1899),
by Richard Hinckley Allen (USA), essays
and international astropoetical quotations
-A Touch Of Poetry (1999),
by David R. Keedy (U.K.), original astropoems;
2nd column:
-Les Merveilles Celestes (edition 1905),
by Camille Flammarion (France), essays
and international astropoetical quotations
-Targovistea Cosmica (2007),
by Valentin Grigore (Romania), original astro-photo-poetry
and quotations from the SARM astropoetry movement;
3rd column:
-Ora Astropoeziei Romanesti si Astropoezie Pe Piscuri (2003),
edited by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe and Valentin Grigore (Romania),
astropoetry anthology on the SARM participation at the global projects
Dialogue Among Civilizations Through Poetry Readings and Poetry on the Peaks
-More Things In Heaven And Earth (1997),
by David H. Levy (USA, discoverer of over 20 comets), essays
and Anglo-American astropoetical quotations;
4th column:
-Noile Astroproverbe In Versuri Ale Astronautului Sazartinus (1997),
by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe, original astropoems
-Dark Matter - Poems Of Space (2003),
edited by Maurice Riordan (U.K.) and Jocelyn Bell Burnell
(co-discoverer of the first radio pulsars),
anthology of old and new astropoetry by poets from the English language space:
On the chair:
-Viziunea Cosmica In Poezia Romaneasca (1982),
by Al. Dima (Romania), essays
and Romanian astropoetical quotations
-Cer, Om, Pamant (2005),
by Zigmund Tauberg (Romania), original astropoems
-Soare, Luna , Luceafar (1991),
by Ion Holban (Republic of Moldavia), astrophysical essays
and astropoetical quotations by poets from Moldavia
(a former medieval state divided today into
“Romanian” Moldavia and the Republic of Moldavia):
And the organizer of the GAM astropoetry exhibition and reading,
Andrei Dorian Gheorghe:
*
MY NEIGHBOUR THE UNIVERSE
-by Elena Andreea Alecu-
Has my neighbour, the Universe,
ADN?
Did he hear
about the pluriverse?
But the red dwarf?
Is she mellow?
Or, was she born like so,
coloured?
The pulsar also says something
in an extraterrestrial Morse alphabet.
Or, does he vibrate emotive?
Or, does he blink coquettish
thinking of a ballet
projected into the abyss?
I’m eager to meet all of them
in a bazaar
and to pump them over a glass
of star dust.
*
MISS GAM BUCHAREST:
CRISTINA SLOVINEANU!!!
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
READING INTERNATIONAL ASTROPOETRY
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
In every gala of SARM’s Cosmopoetry Festival
I use to read international astropoetry.
Thus, I feel myself enlightened by such bright spirits,
And it’s always a honour for me.
*
ANDREI DORIAN GHEORGHE READS INTERNATIONAL ASTROPOETRY
BY PARTICIPANTS AT THIS PROJECT
-photos by Valentin Grigore-
*
BLACK HOLES AND GRAVITY
-by Zigmund Tauberg-
Perfidious, unseen, mysterious, merciless,
with a gnawing hunger,
they swallow ceaselessly
all that exist in the immediate vicinity
Catching, crumbling,
and then keeping,
it seems that the greedy monsters
give back nothing.
But there is something that
they cannot absorb.
That is gravity, a blind force
which betray by all means
their presence,
and more, it is even the basis for
their existence!
*
ZIGMUND TAUBERG
(born in 1927)
READS HIS ASTROPOETRY
-photos by Valentin Grigore-
*
END OF AN APRIL NIGHT
-by Doina Chilargi-
On the canopy of heaven,
stars think to switch off their lights,
and the Monn, smiling coquettish,
leaves us too.
Nightingales begin to sing,
and nature will wake up too.
The Polar Star,
an old friend of mine,
still caresses my grief,
but soon, scared by too much blue,
she will go to other spaces,
too.
*
DOINA CHILARGI READS HER ASTROPOETRY
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
NIGHT
-by Andreea Nanciu-
A terrible longing for the meteors
that burn in the dark sky,
stars bordered by proud light,
and a real dream,
looking at the moon.
*
ANDREEA NANCIU READS HER ASTROPOETRY
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
OLD HAIKU REVERSED
-by Diana Maria Ogescu-
Universe -
the pencil which I use to write
about immensity
*
DIANA MARIA OGESCU PRESENTS HER ASTROPOETRY
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
MARS’ MONOLOGUE
-composed and performed by Ion(ut) Moraru-
I am the 4th planet from the Sun
and watch the Earth.
Once I was similar to it,
but my heart melted and then froze,
and I lost my magnetism.
Thus,
the Sun harmed my atmosphere.
Now I send a desperate S.O.S.
to Terra.
I have kept my valleys
just because I call the earthlings
to appreciate the sweet water
that they waste…
*
FORBIDDEN DANCE
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
I wanted to dance with Cassiopeia,
but I was afraid of Cepheus.
I wanted to dance with Andromeda,
but I was afraid of Perseus.
So finally I danced
terrestrially
with an earthly Venus,
and I saluted
cosmically
the two constellated ladies.
*
ANDREI DORIAN GHEORGHE READS HIS ASTROPOETRY
-photo by Valentin Grigore-
*
GLOBAL ASTRONOMY MONTH 2010
-by Valentin Grigore
(GAM national coordinator for Romania)-
Many people wanted
another international year of astronomy
because they felt that
astronomy is not only a simple science
and the sky is not only a simple study object,
so the Global Astronomy Month came naturally.
GAM meant a special living under the starry canopy
connected to the coming of the spring,
when the sap of the Earth
meets the sap of the Sky,
and this union arouses all and gives life.
We had a month with many celestial events:
a splendid lunar circuit
(begun and ended with the full moon),
the planet Saturn like a “planet with handles”
(just as Galileo Galilei had seen it four centuries ago),
beautiful conjunctions,
and a supplementary sky gift,
the Lyrid meteor shower…
And sky lovers also organized
a solar week, a lunar week,
star parties and even remote astronomy programs…
We felt more,
although we had to confront
the barrier of light pollution,
a measure of human ignorance…
Our souls should reflect the light of the stars
just as it really is,
because astronomy is not only a simple science,
and the sky is not only a simple study object…
The sky is all!
*
VALENTIN GRIGORE RECITES HIS ASTROPOETRY
-photos by Ion(ut) Moraru-
*
“THE UNIVERSE AT YOUR COMMAND”
AND
“COSMIC DEPTHS”
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Travelling among heavenly objects…
Sorry,
that is not Star Trek,
that is remote astronomy.
Is there any place
left in your soul
for astropoetry?
*
SOME OF THE PARTICIPANTS
(AND PROJECT’S HEROES)
AT THE GAM INTERNATIONAL ASTROPOETRY READING 2010
Up:
Mihai Dascalu (observatory assistant coordinator), Andreea Nanciu,
Cristina Tinta-Vass, Diana Maria Ogescu, Doina Chilargi,
Alexandru Conu, Zigmund Tauberg, Adina Conu, Edith Tauberg,
Ortansa Moraru and Ion(ut) Moraru.
Down:
Adrian Bruno Sonka (observatory coordinator),
Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (project coordinator),
Valentin Grigore (President of SARM) and Catalin Paduraru “Sarpe”
Note:
The GAM astropoetry reading also celebrated:
-15 years since the fusion between
Valentin Grigore’s Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy (SARM)
and Andrei Dorian Gheorghe’s Cosmopoetry Group 90,
which gave birth to the SARM astropoetry movement;
-and the 15th edition of SARM’s Cosmopoetry Festival.
*
COORDINATOR’S LAST WORD
SARM’s Astropoetry Master Club
tried successfully to release this project before May 18th and May 24th,
the birthdays of Steliana Gheorghe (1934-2009)
and Costica Gheorghe (1927-2007),
in order to honour their decisive role in the existence
of the international contemporary astropoetry movement.
SARM’s Astropoetry Master Club and Friends
tried to make in this project
not only the largest-ever web page of astropoetry and astropoetic images,
but also a record of beauty regarding the cosmic reflection
in the human soul.
And after all
Astropoetry to the Global Astronomy Month 2010
represented the most beautiful gift for when I turned
50 years.
-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe, 2010 May 14th-
*
PROJECT’S TROPHY
*
And finally
SARM’ s Astropoetry Master Club salutes admiratively
two other astropoetic initiatives connected to the
Global Astronomy Month 2010:
-Global Astronomy Month - Astropoetry Blog,
edited by Robert L. Eklund (USA)
http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/index.php/projects/global-astronomy-month/gam360/astro-poetry-blog.html
-and the Spring 2010 issue of the regular web magazine Astropoetica,
edited by Emily Gaskin (USA)
http://www.astropoetica.com/
*
ASTROHUMOROUS MORAL
Everything is fine
when even the Police protects GAM
and watches the celestial order!
*
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