HAPPY OBSERVATIONAL NIGHTS IN LA PALMA

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SUNRISE IN LA PALMA
-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe;
photo: Valentin Grigore-

In La Palma
the day begins when
a giant (globular and flying) fish
jumps from the ocean.



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MYSTERIOUS SHIP
-photos: Valentin Grigore;
poem: Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-



This sailboat is lowered
from the heavens.



This sailboat is carrying my longing
to my unmet love.



The sail of this boat will give birth to
the starry night.



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MEDITATION IN LOS CANCAJOS
-astropoem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe;
photos by Valentin Grigore-

La Palma makes me think
that every continent is an island
in the planetary ocean,
planets and stars are islands
in the infinite ocean,
and the astronomer is a diver
of the Cosmos.

















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COSMOPOETRY FESTIVAL CELEBRATION
IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
-photos by Valentin Grigore, Ovidiu Vaduvescu and Sebastian Ionescu-







If someone said,
when I directed the first SARM Cosmopoetry Festival
in the summer of 1996,
that the spirit of this show
would expand to astronomical events
in a lot of European countries,
and even on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea
or beyond the Irish Sea,
I would have replied:
“It would be unbelievable!”

But now,
in the autumn of 2010,
I have to believe that all these things
truly happened,
and this evening
we are celebrating through verses and impressions
our exotic expedition to La Palma
and the last event of the 15th SARM Cosmopoetry Festival
in an amphitheatre on a shore of the Atlantic Ocean,
right in the most astronomical island on our planet,
with the Moon, Jupiter and a few stars
as special guests.

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-





















In La Palma
I feel like a burning meteor…

-Andreea Calugaru-



I hope that your memories about the La Palma expedition,
with sunny days, flowers, fishes, spectacular landscapes
and the fascinating starry sky
will remain for your lives
as something warm and good…

-Gabriela Vaduvescu-



The life of an astronomer
is not simple,
but it remains generous
to those who follow
the dream of watching the stars.

-Ovidiu Vaduvescu-



We spent a few days
in a terrestrial paradise,
surrounded by
the crystalline waters of the Atlantic Ocean
and an unpolluted sky,
with a diversity of
natural attractions and performing telescopes.

From now on,
we are indebted to the world
for some warm breezes
and some clear skies
from La Palma!

-Valentin Grigore-







Since many people still confuse La Palma
with Palma de Mallorca
or with the province of Las Palmas,
or with its Capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,
we hope that our story
will convince some of them that
La Palma is just a romantic island,
closer to the stars.

“The Beautiful Island”!

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-



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COSMOPOETRY SURREALISM
-astro-photo-poem by Ovidiu Vaduvescu-



In fact,
watching the stars means poetry,
too…



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CONCLUSION
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

All my life I thought
I could write astropoetry
only among pressures
(stressing job, too little money,
crisis of time, many other problems…),
but in La Palma I found out
I can also write astropoetry
when I am peaceful and happy.

So what is preferable?
for my writing table?

Useless question…

For my changeable flame,
the Cosmos is the same.

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OBSERVATIONAL NIGHTS IN LOS CANCAJOS
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-



















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THE LAST GIFT OF LA PALMA
-astropoem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe;
photo by Valentin Grigore-

Before our departure,
La Palma gave us a memorable present,
an image just for the first cover
of the Journal of the International Meteor Organization,
WGN.

Thus, over the Atlantic Ocean,
an Orionid fireball up to the left
(appears gigantic),
the zodiacal light in the center
and the Teide volcano in Tenerife down to the right
(appears petty).

And implicitly,
an associated message:

“Take care, my friends,
and continue to love the skies.
The most important things
of the Earth
are quite minuscule
in comparison with
the most insignificant things
of the Universe!”



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