JUNIOR OLYMPICOSMOPOETRIADA 2012

This pilot edition is mainly dedicated to more local, zonal or national models
in junior astrocreativity,
especially to those that have blended astropoetry
with astroarts, astrophotography and various astronomical activities.
Special guest models:
Armagh City, Northern Ireland, UK
and New Zealand Mars Society + Kiwi Space Foundation.

*

MOTTO 1

"They are going:
days, nights, weeks, months, years...
But why?
But where?
This thought thrills me
and presses me in encores.
Are they going to another galaxy,
where water for eternal life could be?"

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (editor of Cosmopoetry), 1970
(when he was 10 years of age;
this is an excerpt from a poem which was rejected by the jury
of a poetry contest for children in Bucharest)-

Kid Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

MOTTO 2

"Sometimes I feel like a comet
waltzing romantically
in the cosmic ink..."

-Adrian Sima, 1999
(when he was a high school student;
in 1999 he won both
the national astronomy contest for youth
and the national astropoetry contest for high school students
at SARM's EuRoEclipse Perseids 99 event;
more, in 1999 he was the first Romanian high school student
who photographed the diamond ring of a total solar eclipse,
and later he graduated the Physics Faculty at University of Bucharest)-

Adrian Sima takes the national award for young astronomers
at the international event EuRoEclipse Perseids 99

MOTTO 3

"In the puzzling Universe,
the Earth is a so dwarf thing
that you think: “Oh my God,
am I so trifling?'"

-Cristina Tinta (akka Tina Visarian), 2000
(when she was 16 years of age;
in 2001 she was SARM's national laureate
for astronomy - at SARM's youth contest in the Perseid camp -,
astropoetry - high school students -, and astroart;
more, in 2009 she was one of the winners in
the Earth and Sky international astrophotography contest,
organized by Astronomers Without Borders for the International Year of Astronomy)

Cristina Tinta and her astroart exhibition
at a SARM event in 2002

Unfortunately, Adrian Sima, Cristina Tinta and other Romanian similar talents
did not have the chance
to participate in the International Olympiad of Astronomy.,
but, participating at SARM's international projects,
we can say that they became "olympics" in astropoetry and cosmopoetry.
In exchange, later...

...here is a salute from the Romanian junior team
(Ana-Maria Constantin, Mihai Racoreanu, Andrei Cuceu,
Bogdan Marchis, Roberta Raileanu)
who took the 1st place among nations
at the International Olympiad of Astronomy and Astrophysics
in September 2011, at Chorzow (Poland).
And on this occasion
we must praise a Lady of Romanian astronomy,
teacher Erika Lucia Suhay,
for her long fight to bring Romania
among the participants at the International Astronomy Olympiads.

*

SARM'S EUROECLIPSE PERSEIDS 99
INTRODUCTORY MODEL
(In between 1993 and 1999
the Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy-SARM
organized the first seven editions of its annual Perseid event and camp,
founded by Valentin Grigore,
in the city of Targoviste and the Voievodes Hill.
In between 1996 and 1999,
the event was enriched by an annual Cosmopoetry Festival,
founded by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe with the support of Valentin Grigore
and including sections for high school students and youth,
and in between 1997 and 1999
by an International Showroom of Astronomical Arts, Photos and Publications.
The 1999 edition
was a large international one (with participants from 4 continents),
entitled, due to a total solar eclipse, EuRoEclipse Perseids 99,
and included:
-an international astronomical meeting;
-the International Cosmopoetry Festival (in the English language);
-the International Showroom of Arts, Photos and Publications
(with work from 30 countries);
-an international astronomy flash-contest for teams of all ages;
-a Romanian astronomy summer school;
-cultural excursions;
-camp astro-entertainment activities;
-nocturnal, solar and eclipse observations;
-a Romanian national astronomy contest for high school students and youth.
Some of the high school students who participated at EuRoEclipse Perseids 99
climbed the stage of the International Cosmopoetry Festival as astropoets
or contributed with works to the International Showroom
of Astronomical Arts, Photos and Publications.)
-Photos by Ovidiu Vaduvescu:
1. Many juniors in the audience of the EuRoEclipse Perseids 99 festivals;
2. Romanian national astronomy contest for high school students and youth
at EuRoEclipse Perseids 99;
3. EuRoEclipse Perseids 99 participants of all ages at the International Showroom
of Astronomical Arts, Photos and Publications / EuRoEclipse Perseids 99;
Verses from the International Cosmopoetry Festival of the event -

a noon without sun
and ocean full of stars
some meteors included

-Paul Boboc
(high school student, SARM,
EuRoEclipse Perseids 99-

Primordial cloud.
Everything condenses down.
Stars and planets born.

-Christine McKay
(high school student, USA,
EuRoEclipse Perseids 99)-

PLANETS’ FASHION SHOW
(One of the most appreciated acts at EuRoEclipse Perseids 99 Cosmopoetry Festival
was the Planets’ Fashion Show, a creation of teacher Ioan Adam
and his team from Mihai Eminescu High School, Barlad, Romania,
in which his students performed, with adequate vestment, the solar system’s planets.
In 2008, during the World Space Week,
Ioan Adam repeated this act with another team right at their high school.)

YOUNG METEOR OBSERVERS' BOND
FOR ASTRONOMY AND CLEAR SKIES
(After 1999, SARM organized its annual Perseid camp in different zones,
and sequences from the 18th edition in Fagaras Mountains, August 2011
are presented below.)
-credit: event organizer Valentin Grigore-

ADOLESCENCE ASTROMEMORIES
-astro-photo-art-poem by Alexandru Sebastian Grigore
( 1. Orion at Earth Hour in Targoviste - photo 2008, when he was 16 years of age;
2. Text 2010 - when he was 18 years of age;
3. Astronomia 2010 camp banner, Bucegi Mountains)-

Wherever he would be,
to do something astronomical
is the sky lover's
first priority.

SARM PREPARES FUTURE ASTRONOMERS AND ASTROARTISTS
(Astronomia 2010 camp, Bucegi Mountains)
-credit: Valentin Grigore-

ASTROSTANZA
-by Andreea Roxana Lupu (2012, grade X,
Roman Voda College, Romanian Roman city)-

From the solar system
We have the earth as a gift
We have the moon and the stars
And read them all the time.

MOON, PLANETS, STARS
-photographic poem by Diana Lipcanu (Bucharest,
a champion of landscape astrophotography at the
National Astrophotography Contest for Juniors
organized by the Bucharest National Children Palace in 2008 and 2009,
when she was 16 and 17 years of age)-

MILKY WAY RIVER
-by Ana Maria Anghel (grade VI, Switzerland,
born in Romania)-

Quickly dripping down.
Running through the sky forest.
Sparkling clean, floating.

ATTITUDES
-astroartistic poem by Claudia Grau (Buzau,
a champion of digital astroart at the
National Astrophotography Contest for Juniors
organized by the Bucharest National Children Palace in 2009,
when she was 17 years of age)-

IMAGINATION IN THE DANCE OF A GALAXY
-astro-art-poem by Diana Alexandra Ardelean (2012, grade XI,
SARM, Bucharest)-

I would like to be a meteor
And my thoughts to fly like clouds
In the dance of a galaxy...

...To be lucky
And to live
Happy like a star.

ROMANIAN BUCEGI SPHINX AND A FIREBALL
-astroartwork by Cristian Daniel Grigore (grade XI,
SARM, Targoviste;
painting exhibited in the author's poster
at the International Meteor Conference 2011 in Sibiu)-

LIGHT
-Elena Erculescu (2012, grade VII,
Orthodox Theological Seminary, Targoviste)-

When I watch the sky
I feel embraced by a strong light,
which warms my soul.
This makes me imagine
an immortal world,
full of magic things.
Stars give answers to my questions,
listen to my wishes,
and make me feel happy.

A clear sky makes me remember
beautiful things,
but for me even the clouds position in the form
of various objects,
which make me clarify my thoughts.

The sky is an infinite ocean,
so when my eyes traverse its eternal line,
my soul is carried by
a wave of light.

EQUINOX-SUCEAVA MODEL
(Inspired by SARM's activities at the Perseid annual camp,
teacher-astronomer Dimitrie Olenici created in 2003 at Suceava Planetarium
an annual national contest of astronomy for children,
completed since 2006 with astroartistic and astroliterary exhibits,
and since 2010 with an astrophotography section for high school students.)
Images:
1. Teachers arrange the children's astroartistic and astroliterary creations, 2006;
2-5. Sequences from Equinox astronomy festival 2010;
6. Equinox participants and the festival's creator.
Credit Dimitrie Olenici and team
Verses from Equinox Festival:

If Mercury,
the small ball of iron craters,
feels beloved by the Sun and watches him,
Venus,
bright and sublime,
evening or morning star,
the goddess of beauty,
sends sweet whispers to the same Sun,
easing both her love and her sadness.

-Adelina Morosanu (age 13, 2007)-

Mercury and Venus live
in a hot environment,
but they are not scared.
The Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun,
it is the blue place where we live,
and red Mars is like a dwarf to him.
Jupiter is the biggest planet,
Saturn has majestic rings,
Uranus is cold, without life,
and Neptune is hidden...
just like our Moon in the morning!

-George Damian (age 11, 2010)-

And, finally, a question:
Are these the Sun and the planet Saturn?

No, they are just parasite solar reflections
photographed during GAM 2012
by Robert Barbalata (grade VI) from School 8 at Suceava!

A NEW ZEALAND MARS SOCIETY + KIWI SPACE FOUNDATION MODEL
(The president of NZ Mars Society, Haritina Mogosanu, sent us a combination between
an old poem by a youngster from Wellington
and recent images from Mars Pioneer City at Room 11 at Lyall Bay Primary School,
made by kids 8-10 years of age.)
THE RED PLANET
-by Trevor Anders (poem composed
a long time ago, when he was 10 years of age)-

In all his glory and in all his splendor
He gleams with a demon red;
He gleams like the coals inside the fender,
He gleams through the night while we’re in bed.

He shines in red in all his glory,
Clothed in scarlet like a demon king.
He has witnessed an old, old story
That no-one has heard, not anything.

This story is how the earth came to be,
How life began in primitive ways,
How gigantic lakes became the sea.
This story he’ll keep to the end of his days.

Nergal was his Babylonian name;
Feared with terror and with awe,
Known the most throughout all fame -
Mars, the mighty God of War.

“Pioneer City
Is a lovely place to be
We will have fun there
Just you and me.”

UNAWE ROMANIA MODEL
(A short selection from the astrocreative activities of this group founded in 2009
as part of the Universe Awareness international project
is presented below.)
Credit: Catalina Movileanu and team:
1-3. Solar System at Dimitrie Anghel School, Cioresti, Iasi
(local organizer: teacher Dorina Marin)
4-6. Moon and Its Phases at
Cuibusorul Zanelor/Goddesses’ Little Nest Kindergarten, Bucharest
7-9. The Sun at Cuibusorul Zanelor/Goddesses’ Little Nest Kindergarten
10-12. Romanian Astronomical Amulets for the International Woman Day
at Cuibusorul Zanelor/Goddesses’ Little Nest Kindergarten

God made
the Sun, the Moon and the stars
that give light in the sky
to protect the Earth.

-Romanian Astrokid 1-

The life of a star can be long or short.
The life of a star is long
when it breaks the weighing machine
with years...

-Romanian Astrokid 2-

Stars shine in the sky
to give us
beautiful dreams.

-Romanian Astrokid 3-

ARMAGH MODEL
(Armagh is a city in Northern Ireland that has developed an exceptional
astro-cultural-educational-artistic model for young juniors, made together by
the famous local observatory, OASES Project, Armagh Rhymers and local schools.
Special thanks to Dr. Astronomer Miruna Popescu,
coordinator of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 in Ireland
and of OASES Project,
for the material below.)
Images:
1. Kids from Armstrong Primary School perform planets
during the inauguration of human orrery at Armagh Observatory, 2004;
1. Kids from OASES Project show their artwork; 2010;
3-5. Astro-art-poetry and a poetic essay about how
Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered the pulsars,
by students from Mt. Saint Catherine’s Primary School in Armagh;
6. Juniors from Armagh Royal Scholl (with Miruna Popescu on the right)
show their artwork, 2010;
7. OASES Project dancers, musically accompanied
by the legendary Armagh Rhymers (on the right) at Armagh Theatre, 2011.

SKY
-by Maria Daniela Dita (2012, grade VII,
Orthodox Theological Seminary, Targoviste)-

When I miss somebody
I watch the sky
and the image of that person
seems to be imprinted on it.

Sometimes when the sky
is full of hard clouds,
it seems that my soul is the same,
but when the sky is clear,
I feel happy and courageous.

When the Sun sets
and the stars rise,
I feel I can speak with them
as if they would be my best friends.

When the Sun is covered by clouds,
it seems to be a bad day,
but when the Sun appears free,
he lightens us and encourages us
to be happy.

BUCHAREST NATIONAL CHILDREN PALACE MODEL
(Since 2008, the coordinator of the astronomy circle,
teacher Minodora Carmen Lipcanu organizes at this institution
an annual national astrophotography contest for high school students.
Thanking Mrs. Lipcanu for this model,
we present below a short selection 2008-2011 from this contest,
adorned by a poem written in 2012 by one of the young astrophotographers.)
L'ARC-EN-CIEL
-astropoem by Andrada Mihaela Jecu (grade X);
photos:
2008. 1. Ioana Timigeriu; 2-3. Tudor Gabriel Dominte; 4. Delia Iulia Gireada;
5. Raluca Lazar; 6. Marian Manta; 7. Teodor Lipcanu;
8. Stefanel Catalin Mancas; 9. Laurentiu Mihai Pauna; 10. Maria Tihon;
11. Ana Maria Tuca;
2009: 1. Andreea Matei; 2. Diana Lipcanu; 3. Andrada Mihaela Jecu;
4. Radu Petre Bibirie; 5. Victor Butan;
2010: 1. Alina Milici; 2. Maria Cristina Maliniciu; 3. Marius Codrut Bejan;
1. Mihaela Dumitriu; 5. Teodora Monica Stanuca;
2011: 1. Ioana Ionescu; 2. Andreea Stirbu; 3. Diana Georgiana Dobrea;
4. Maria Cristina Maliniciu; 5. Elena Mihaela Mocanu; 6. Mircea Vacariuc;
7. Iulia Delia Gireada: 8. Ancuta Elena Benedic; 9. Iulia Andreea Stefan;
10. Group exhibition

Proud, ephemeral bow from heavens
Suddenly covering us
And conquering my entire world…

Someday I would climb up
To whisper him:

“Take me on your crown
And carry me through the infinite!

Together we would go
To catch stars in our palms,
My dear and wonderful rainbow!”

SHOOTING STARS
-by Ioana Patricia Roman (2012, grade XI,
Carol I High School, Craiova)-

Hoped that shooting stars were plenty,
Hoped they kissed me sweet and twenty!
But my aims were far too high
As the airplanes in the sky!

Clouds allover, gentle winds
I suppose that if I did
Say my wish to the airplane
It would all have been in vain!

TARGOVISTE JUNIORS' METEOR VISIONS
-Artwork by juniors at Balasa Doamna Art High School
(exhibited at the International Meteor Conference 2011.09.15-18 in Sibiu, Romania;
coordinator: teacher Carmen Antonescu; astronomy instructor: Valentin Grigore):
1. Nicolae Eremia; 2. Adela Neacsu; 3. Andrei Badoiu; 4. Alexandru Vaduva;
5. Diana Eremia; 6. Bianca Dinica; 7. Astronymous: 8. Rodica Andreea Sandu-

SARM GALILEO ASTROCLUB MODEL IN PIATRA NEAMT
(The Italian amateur astronomer Alfredo Caronia co-discovered five asteroids
and then relocated to Romania a few years ago.
He named one of those asteroids right… Piatra Neamt,
co-founded the SARM Galileo Astroclub,
and gave us an astropoem by a youngster and a picture with juniors and adults
around a telescope during the activities of this astroclub):
ASTRONOMY ASTRONOMY
-by Marco Andrei Antohi (2012, age 10)-

I remember,
when we were in school,
Romanian, Mathematics, English…
bored me very much,
they were not impressive.

I once thought it would be
more fun to include
astronomy in schools
because it’s more attractive.

A SAMPLE FROM AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
(Danut Ionescu was born in Romania,
where he became a famous popularizer of astronomy.
Since 2003 he lives in New Zealand, a country where a few years ago
he organized, as a member of Auckland Astronomical Society,
for the first time an event for the International Astronomy Day.
His favorite moments are when kids are close to the telescope.)

(After that some of them become creative,
as in the following picture on light pollution in Southern Auckland,
co-made in 2010 with a 11-year boy, Nicholas Paveliuc,)

SARM LYRA ASTROCLUB MODEL IN IASI:
ASTROPOEM
-by Astrogen (high school student in 2010,
when he wrote this poem as a participant at a
SARM Lyra Astroclub event in Iasi, Romania);
photo:
SARM Lyra Astroclub at work!-

One evening
the Semi-Moon
flew above me,
but when people remarked it,
clouds already appeared.
Already?!

MOON
-by Amalia Gheorghiu (2012, age 7,
SARM, Braila)-

The sky is blue
The night is dark
The Moon throws white beams
Which fall over houses
Where children sleep
With beautiful dreams.

THE MOON
-by Ana Maria Cucu (2012, grade XI,
Roman Voda College, Romanian Roman city)-

Queen of the night,
Witness of my broken flight,
Why are you hiding?
Why do you fear to be again
The guide to the unseen?
Why do you hide
Behind grey clouds?
Why are you so silent?
Don’t you hear the voice of flowers
That call you?

Eternity knocks on my gate,
But the star dust covers my eyes
Not to see where I put the key.

Could you still
Enlighten me?
Or will you be forever wearing the clouds
And leaving the sky to cry,
Ringing in the silent of oblivion?

LUNAR FANTASIES
(Sequences from the Bucharest National Children Palace
astrophotography contest 2009-2011)
-Images by: :
1. Denisa Ghiga (age 14); 2. Andrada Mihaela Jecu (age 17);
3. Andrei Daniel Dragomir (age 17); 4. Teodor Badescu (age 14);
5. Denisa Ghiga (age 14); 6. Catalina-Ana Miritescu (age 16)-

ASTRONAUTICA / CARABELLA HIGH SCHOOL MODEL IN TARGOVISTE
(Teacher Ioan N. Radu is considered the father of model rocketry in Romania.
He was a world champion and record-holder for model rocketry;
he is a historian of Romanian astronautics and a famous educator for juniors.

He founded the Astronautica society
in 1968
at Carabella High School,
probably the first in Romania that regularly published poems about the Cosmos
by high school students
in their magazine called also Astronautica.
We have chosen one of them published in 2005.)

Sometimes when I try to watch the Cosmos,
it happens to rain.
Then I sketch
suns without feelings
and darkness without ambitions.
I watch the drops of water
and I see them without story and without stigma.
They do not want to be utopias
of some special sky.
They laugh at me
and at the heavenly bodies which have remained
stuck in my soul.

-Ioana Roxana Vadan
(Stigma)-

(And another one, published in 2006.)

Cranes come,
chasing the clouds,
which fall into tales,
rains of sun,
billions of living stars,
flowers rising on fields.
The sky full of stars,
the symbol of happiness,
of peace for humanity.

-Cristina Stancu
(Darkness and Light)-

(During GAM 2012, Valentin Grigore,
who also had been a student of Ioan N. Radu,
returned to Carabella High School 25 years after his graduation from there,
this time to make an astronomical presentation
as the president of SARM.

In the traditional spirit of this high school,
a few young students awaited him with poems,
one of them being reproduced below.)

When I watch the sky,
its infinity scares me…
But if I watch it better,
my fear perishes like a falling star,
being replaced by curiosity,
which is as big as the Sun.
And my interest,
rays made by curiosity.

-Georgian Stanescu (grade VI)-

SEQUENCES WITH CREATIVE JUNIORS (I)
1. Sky lovers from West Europe and North America play
a Romanian solar ring dance with Romanian children
at SARM's EuRoEclipse Perseids 99, Voievodes Hill, Targoviste, Romania;
credit: Ovidiu Vaduvescu;
2. The Solar System Dance, performed by Irish kids
from OASES Project;
credit: Miruna Popescu;
3. Solar choreography at Bucharest National Children Palace;
credit: coordinator-teacher Minodora Carmen Lipcanu

A BUCHAREST MINISARM MODEL:
THE SKY WITH THE MOON, STARS AND SUN
-astro-art-poetry-theatre by Maria Roberta Tepurlui (2012, age 7),
with the photographic support of his mother, Gabriela Irina Ciurcas-

The Moon is a state of spirit
that makes me feel strong,
the Moon gives me hope,
I like the white Moon and the Semi-Moon.

The Moon and
the stars that surround her
have a magic which embraces my heart
and then all becomes a dream.

The Moon gives me hope,
the Moon makes me feel stronger,
so what a pity that the Moon and her stars
disappears when the Sun rises!

The Sun rises,
the sky becomes orange
and the magic of my beautiful Moon
disappears!

CELESTIAL ALBUM
-by Cristina Calinescu (2012, grade VII,
Orthodox Theological Seminary, Targoviste)-

Watching the sky
I feel that in front of mine
there is a giant album
with all the happy moments of my life.

When I am sad
I feel that the stars speak with me
and want to liberate me from my pain.

Watching the sky
I feel that all around me
wants my good.

Every happy or unhappy moment of my life
is engraved on a star from the clear sky.

Watching the sky, even if I am sad,
I become joyous because I think about
how beautiful a clear sky is
in comparison with a cloudy sky.

SIBIU MODELS (I)
(In the city of Sibiu, two important promoters of astronomy for amateurs and juniors
are Florentina Ilesan and Catalin Stan.
Along with them, teachers Anca Ighisan, Elisabeta Ana Naghi, Nicoleta Craciunas
and Carmen Marculescu created a model of junior astrocreativity
at Octavian Goga College, from which we present the combination below.)
TRIP IN THE UNIVERSE
-by Iulian Andrei Biris (2012, grade IX);
photo representing juniors from Octavian Goga College musically playing
a song called Dust of Stars-

I’ve looked for you, my love,
In places known only by myself.
You’ve disappeared in the Universe. No traces.
And how much mystery!

I rode Pegasus,
I harnessed the Great Chariot
And I traversed the impenetrable
Through dark depths.

Prowling the galaxy,
I call you like you would be goddess Aurora
With her games of colors
On the canopy of heaven.

But I know…
Now you are on a set star,
Which has become something else.
Together with it, my love too.

SEQUENCES WITH CREATIVE JUNIORS (II)
1. A South African-American high school student, Ronald Sebilo-Tibbits,
play a song about the night at the
Cosmopoetry Festival /EuRoEclipse Perseids 99, Romania;
credit Ovidiu Vaduvescu;
2. Sri-Lankean kids mark the position of the planets next to Colombo;
credit: Thilina Heenatigala;
3. Romanian kids help Alex Conu to make a comet in Bucharest;
credit Razvan Baciu

TULCEA MODELS (I)
(Teacher Nicolae Dobrescu coordinates the astronomical activities at the
Delta Orion Astroclub and Tulcea Children Palace.
Here is one of the results.)
THE MATHEMATICS OF MUTE LOVE
-astro-photo-poem by Andrada Mihaela Jecu (2012, grade X,
Grigore Moisil High School; Delta Orion Astroclub and Tulcea Children Palace;
the picture was taken in 2009)-

Your mute and empty glance
Freezes words on my lips.
Feelings of hate and love
Mist our souls.
Before 3:58,
The dream of light.

The greenish spiral of the infinite
Intersects our thoughts
In the right support of the heart.
We are congruent in
Livings and hopes
Which smoulder in us
Just like glow worms in abysses.
The variable proportion of feelings
Depends on
The rays of our souls.
We are two similar triangles
Living in a deformed sphere
Simply called:
Life!!!

A BABY STAR GIRL KEEPS IN HER PALM A BABY STAR FISH
IN WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
(The girl is a descendent of Ngati Toa,
who wrote Haka Ka Mate,
which became the ritual of New Zealand rugby team)
-credit: Haritina Mogosanu-

My name is
Haritoa Te Hiko O Te Rangi WAAKA

that means
Strong Joy Descended From Heavens
From The Seed At The Beginning Of Time.

A MINISARM MODEL IN DAMBOVITA COUNTY :
NEWTON AND GRAVITY
-astro-art-poem by Florentina Claudia Badea (2012, grade VI,
Habeni School, Dambovita County)-

An apple?

An idea!

SEQUENCES WITH CREATIVE JUNIORS (III)
1. Romanian kids artistically learn astronomy lessons from Dragos Brasov;
credit: Urania Astronomical Association, Bucharest;
2. Dutch “sterrenkids” play astronauts at Cosmos Observatory in Latrop;
credit Arnold Tukkers;
3. Astro-experiment at Bucharest National Children Palace;
credit: coordinator-teacher Minodora Carmen Lipcanu

CRA IOVA MODELS
(Teacher Octavian Georgescu leads the astronomical circle
at Carol I College in Craiova,
while teacher Liliana Cojocaru coordonates the young astroartists
at Gheorghe Titeica School.
So here is a creative astro-combination from this city!)
BREAKING DAWN
-astropoem by Ioana Patricia Roman (2012, grade XI,
Carol I College);
artwork by children from Gheorghe Titeica School-

The moon catches a last glimpse
And fades away - shadow and dust.
The Golden King knows sleep won't last
And kisses nature twice

But there has been no sleep for me,
I watched the sky all night
I saw a star dancing so free -
It was falling in fact.

I saw the moon’s shine so bright,
So silver and alive
And then I found it was the sun
Who spread all the light.

DAY AND NIGHT
-by Alina Gabriela Busuioc (2012, grade VII,
Orthodox Theological Seminary, Targoviste)-

Watching the sky during the daytime
I imagine how I could fly to touch the clouds,
which are so alive for me
that I name them after plants and animals.

Watching the sky during the nighttime
I imagine how is on the Moon,
or I try to count the stars,
and sometimes I think about
how I would feel close to a star.

ROMANIAN ROMAN CITY MODELS (I)
(In the Romanian Roman city, teacher Tit Tihon leads
the Quarc de Liceu astronomical circle at the Roman Voda College.
In his activity, he is helped by other teachers:
Anisoara Cojocaru, Sorina Danciu, R. Merfea, Odette Muller-Dogan etc.)
COSMIC SYNAESTAESIS
-by Miruna Arama (2012, grade XII);
images: Halloween celebration among sun and nebulae at Roman Voda College;
credit: teacher Tit Tihon-

Listen!
the star’s circular walk
in silence you hear,
soft and unclear
like your solitary step
that fades
on the infinite blurred road.

See!
your eyes give birth to new constellations;
in the mirror of your water
nebulae find their reflections:
stars die
and people perish
in the darkness of exhausted sight.

Feel!
the ancestral rhythm
flowing through your entire being;
it pulses,
it becomes
a vibration of pure life:

in you,
the universe is breathing.

SEQUENCES WITH CREATIVE JUNIORS (IV)
1. UNAWE-Romania in Craiova with astronomical artwork and amulets by
kids from Obedeanu School and Mihai Sorescu Art High School;
credit: UNAWE Romania team;
2. Austrian kid plays astronomy in Linz;
credit: Johannes Stubler;
3. Romanian kid in Bacau and his Sun;
credit: Dan Mitrut

STARRY CANOPY
-by Radu Preda (2012, grade VI,
Carabella College, Targoviste)-

When I watch the starry canopy,
A fascinating world appears
With thousands of stars which shine.

It is full of light
and carries the greatest gift,
it is divine!

SIRIUS ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION / MIHAI EMINESCU HIGH SCHOOL MODEL IN BARLAD
(Sirius Astronomical Association was founded in 2001
at Mihai Eminescu High School in Barlad by teacher Ioan Adam
and has developed activities from astronomy to ecology,
and from astropoetry to astroart and astrophotography,
giving also many Romanian astronomy "olympics".):
LET'S SHINE LIKE SIRIUS!!!
-collage of astroverses by students at Mihai Eminescu High School
in Barlad, Romania,
which were published in time in the magazine Pasi spre Infinit - Steps Towards Infinity,
founded by teacher Ioan Adam in 1999;
photos by high students from SAA, who participated at the astrophotography contest
organized by Bucharest National Children Palace in 2009-2011.
1-5: Elena Luchita (age 19), Mihail Chirita (age 17), Magda Nastasa (age 16),
Ionut Rotariu (age 16), Marius Cristian Sava (age 17):
6-8: Daniela Popa (age 17), Elena Bulgaru (age 17), Andreea Grigoratus (age 17);

Yesterday,
at astronomical observations,
Andromeda's soul hardly sighed,
while a comet's soul disguised into meteors.
But one of them had a hard fall.
I thought he was a satellite,
he said he was a fireball.

LITTLE KIDS’ASTROQUESTIONS
-a relating from France
by Mirel Birlan (astronomer at Paris Observatory since 1997,
born in Romania)
with the participation of his children-

(“In many summer evenings I use to watch with my children
the clear sky
next to a forest near Paris in France,
or, in vacations, right in the garden where I learnt my first steps,
near the Danube River in Romania.
We stay on a blanket and I feel their small, curled heads close to my head.
And their questions begin to flow: like in a dramatic poem.”)

“Birlan Kid 1 :

Mon pere :
What is up there?”

“Birlan Kid 2 :

Tata, I want to know :
Where is the Polar Star show?”

“Birlan Kid 3 :

Father, just say :
Where is the Milky Way?”

(“Finally, tiredness sends us home to dream
about the immensity of the Universe pointed by glow-worms.”)

A DAMBOVITA COUNTY MODEL
(The following material is a cooperation in the city of Targoviste
between the SARM president Valentin Grigoe
and teacher Carmen Antonescu from Balasa Doamna Art High School,
and represents artwork by students from Ienachita Vacarescu High School,
Matei Basarab School, Paul Banica School, Mihai Viteazul School,
Persinari School, Lucieni School, Vasile Carlova School and
Balasa Doamna Art High School, associated with
older verses by a Targoviste high school student and SARM member,
who signed under a pseudonym):
COSMOPOETRY
-astropoem by Altair Aquila;
artwork series 1 by: Adina Grasu, Adrian Neagu, Adrian Ionut Manu,
Alexandra Vama, Alexandru Oprea;
artwork series 2 by: Alexandru Rotaru, Ana Maria Dragomir,
Alexandru Oprea, Catalina Toader, Bianca Lupu;
artwork series 3 by: Daiana Petrisor, Daniel Claudiu Iliescu,
Diana Mantoiu, Elena Alexandra Chiran, Elena Loredana Roteliuc,
Gabriela Moise, Ionut Madalin Dinu;
artwork series 4 by: Lacramioara Stoica, Balasa Grandson,
Oana Lixandru, Lorena Rotaru, Mihai Ghencea;
artwork series 5 by: Teodorea Crivineanu, Olivia Adrian,
Serghei Paslaru, Sorin Tudose, Oana Lixandru-

Do not despise the Universe
seen from a
poetical perspective.

Do not proclaim yourself
superior connoisseurs
if you do not see
the core of the Creation.

Poetry is a projection of
states of soul, ideas or bursts,
a whole of frets and joys,
depressions and discoveries,
a way to repress or to reanimate,
which can give values and can abound in senses,
sometimes being justified,
at other times even delighting...

And cosmopoetry...
it is much more,
it is astronomy watched
through the eyes of the soul,
a liberation from the multitude
of formulas and equations,
or even the life of an astronomer
projected into verses and arts...

A REALM FULL OF LIGHTS
-Mihaela Pintilie (2012, grade VII,
Orthodox Theological Seminary, Targoviste)-

When I watch the sky
I feel like in a realm full of lights.

A world with many undiscovered things,
full of realized or unrealized desires,
in which my imagination loses its limits.

When I watch the sky,
I feel that all around me is my friend.

SPOTLIGHT
-artistic poem by children from Hurleyville School, New Zealand;
credit: Paul Moss-

SMALL COSMIC DICTIONARY
-by Mihai Stoica (2012, grade II,
Iulian Rusu School, Marcesti, Dambovita County)-

Star -
twinkle of a glow worm in Heaven.

Evening Star -
a star victorious in the Kingdom of Dreams.

Great Chariot -
carriage for astral princesses.

Constellation -
a serenade of stars.

Canopy of heaven -
paradise of stars.

LITTLE ASTROARTISTS IN SRI-LANKA 2012
-credit: Thilina Heenatigala
(with the help of Kavindi, Kaminda, Gihantha, Tijitha, and Janith)-

BEYOND THE SKY
-by Mihaela Adriana Bucur (2012, grade X,
Petru Cercel High School, Targoviste)-

When I watch the sky
I think of how many unknown things
are beyond it,
how many unexplored planets
and undiscovered galaxies exist.

I think that after such a simple thing
there are so many enigmas…
and this makes me dream,
makes me leave my imagination
to try to solve those enigmas
of the Universe…

ARMAGH YOUNG ASTROARTISTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND
(from Oases Project and Mt. Saint Catherine’s Primary School)
-credit: Miruna Popescu and fellows-

YOU UNIVERSE
-by Anisia Banu (2012, grade VIII,
Gura Vulcanei School, Dambovita County)-

The night slowly lowers
Over the great forest
And I watch alone
The stars which rise.

The Moon appears too
And from the starry sky
The Great Chariot and the Little Chariot
Watch me astonished.

The Evening Star
Smiles to me
And confesses that she is
The lucky star of everybody.

You Universe have taught me
To listen, to speak, or to be silent,
And to be joyous in all I do
Because:

“Love moves the Sun and the other stars.”

FALTICENI MODEL
(Teacher Petru Craciun coordinates the Vintila Siadbei astronomical circle
at the Agricultural College in Falticeni, a source of valuable “olympics” in astronomy
and astrocreators.

A collective work of two of them is presented below.)
STARS
-photographic poem in two parts by Diana Pavel (grade XI);
verses by Bogdan Tabrean (2012, grade XI)-

1. Wandering Stars

We can see the Moon up in the sky,
We can see the stars too
We can see the time inferno
We can hear immortal voices

We are travellers in time
Through space and through dreams
We go to what we see alive
Not to loves extinct in eternity

We have seen stars narrowly
Their light has blinded us
With slow steps in the night
We have started to new planets

We pass through time just like through smoke
We hardly see our blue sky
With slow steps in the same flight
We try to give a better sense from the light

2. Paradise of Stars

When I fly when I float
Towards the sky towards the stars
I feel in my mind
A secret, challenging thought

But what is the thought
Which anybody hides
When a star fall?
Does its light die?

Burning stars perish
And nobody can touch them
Only the thoughts
And the dreams past
Just like files

I have known sadness
I have known the abyss
But only the stars fly
For paradise in the sky

TULCEA MODELS (II):
TIME
-astro-art-poem by Andrada Mihaela Jecu (2012, grade X,
Delta Orion Astroclub / Tulcea Children Palace)-

Time is the fire
In which we burn our existence.
Time is the god
Who feeds our dreams
With ambrosia of seconds.
Time is the one-way street
Where we left our childhood.

Time!
Just an illusion!
His self-important speech
Dements you!

A CHISINAU MODEL IN REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
(An old custom of the sky lovers in Republic of Moldova is
to tell something astrohumorous at their meetings.
Here is a poetic sample from an event of the Real-Profile High School
in Chisinau, sent us by Maxim Matvei)
GAME OF CHILDREN

If you see a star up there,
Throw your fur cap towards her!
If there are more stars around,
Throw your fur cap to the ground!

-(Adaptation after a Moldavian folkloric game,
collected by Ion Holban)-

FLIGHT
-Simona Maria Safta (2012, grade VII,
Orthodox Theological Seminary, Targoviste)-

When I watch the sky
I think of the world “flight”…

Why?
Because I would like so much
to fly together with the birds!
Thus,
I would be closer to the sky.
But I know:
this is impossible,
people cannot fly!

So all that remains for me
is to watch the sky
like an unsettled mystery.

STAR CHILDREN OF AOTEAROA
[drawings from a 2012 starparty,
StarChildren (WhetuTamariki) of Hurleyville School, New Zealand]-
-credit: Paul Moss-

SIBIU MODELS (II,
also a poem-image combination from Octavian Goga High School):
A MINUSCLE POINT
-by Iulian Andrei Biris (2012, grade IX)-

Through all ages, under all stars
I feel like a minuscule point
Roving through the Universe.

Always looking for the absolute,
I collect thoughts and read in stars -
I want to believe in them.

A ROSA MODEL
(In 2008, the Romanian Space Agency began to organize
World Space Week in Romania and in 2010,
due to this coordination,
Romania took the first place in the world
in this annual international festival,
with 142 events organized in elementary and high schools.
SARM was proud to be part of this success,
with a few events organized by Valentin Grigore in the city of Targoviste.

Here is a short selection with details in English
about Romanian juniors’ astrocreativity during World Space Week 2010,
for which we thank ROSA’s Director Marius Piso
and Scientific Researcher Virgiliu Pop - project coordinator.)
BLUE PLANET
-by Raluca Hutanu (grade X,
Carol I Commercial College, Constanta)-

I knocked on the Gate of the Universe
and I climbed on the Milky Way
to the warm light of a sun.

I stepped on a carpet of stars
which twinkled in the darkness
just like some strange beads.

I looked for the Blue Planet
made of sand, water and wind,
our cosmic planet Earth,

the swing of life, joy and flowers,
of love and of the longing song,
where people can really feel strong.

Images 1-3: Technical-Energetic College, Sibiu :

Images 1-2: Marin Voiculescu High School, Giurgiu :

Images 1-3: Gheorghe Asachi High School, Galati :

Images 1-2: Mihai Viteazul School, Targoviste :

Images 1-3: Constantin Noica High School, Sibiu :

Images 1. Emanoil Gojdu High School, Oradea; 2. Dej Special School;
3. Iedera de Jos School; 4. Ana Ipatescu High School, Gherla;
5. Sfanta Varvara School, Aninoasa; 6. Miron Costin Techical College, Roman;
7. Pausesti School, Iasi; 8. Campeni School (grades V-VIII), Alba :

Images: 1. Campeni School (grades I-IV), Alba; 2. Mihai Eminescu School, Dej;
3. Constantin Brancusi School, Cluj; 4. Avram Iancu School, Bistrita Nasaud;
5. School 7, Hunedoara; 6. Dan Barbilian School, Constanta;
7. Mediensis Technical College, Medias; 8. School 4, Sibiu; 9. School 6, Vulcan :

Images: 1. Gheorghe Titeica School, Constanta; 2. Sabin Dragoi Art High School, Arad;
3. Aurel Vlaicu College, Orastie; 4. Decebal High School, Constanta; 5. Cristian School, Sibiu;
6. Children’s Club, Jimbolia; 7. Pavel Dan School, Tritenii de Jos School, Cluj;
8. Astronomy and Space Science Club, Oradea; 9. Tandarei School, Ialomita :

Gheorghe Sincai School in Floresti, Cluj County adapted
and used (unsigned) quotations for their artwork :

“We dream of trips in the Universe.
Isn’t the Universe in us?”

“A star does not afraid
to be confused with a glow worm.”

“Great astronomers gained on the stars to our eyes
and comprehended the sky in their minds.”

“Do you want to know it more? Then watch it from closer.
Do you want to like it more? Then watch it from farer.”

“Do not be afraid of shadow.
It just shows it exists in the immediate vicinity.”

“All of us live under the same sky,
but not all of us have the same horizon.”

Images: 1. Grigore Moisil Group and Andrei Saguna School, Deva;
2. Mihai Viteazul School, Zalau; 3. Octavian Goga College, Sibiu;
4. Remetea Mare School, Timis; 5. Frederico Garcia Lorca School, Bucharest;
6. Nicolae Balcescu School, Oradea; 7. Victor Ungurean Technical College,
Campia Turzii; 8. Deusu School, Chinteni, Cluj; 9. Gherla School;
10. GSIP Moreni; 11. Ocna Sibiului School; 12. Avram Iancu School, Turda :

ROMANIAN ROMAN CITY MODELS (II):
DISORDER
-astropoem by Ana Maria Cucu (2012, grade XI);
image by Roman Voda College team-

The Moon leaving herself unseen,
Eternity rapidly flowing
Like a breath of wind,
The sea breaking in small drops
That stick in deep wounds…

Stars travelling
From boundlessness
To ... nowhere,
Withered fir-tree leaves,
Wandering passengers ,
Funeral stone,
Backtrack,
Brightness of venom,
Broken lines
Are seen
While on earth
There are people with turned languages.

Will a long time pass
Until angels will turn their lunettes
To us?

GREAT LITTLE ASTRODANCERS IN NORTHERN IRELAND
FROM OASES (Over us All is the SElfsame Sky) PROJECT
-credit: Miruna Popescu-

SIBIU MODELS (III)
(Another model of this city comes as a combination between poetry and artwork
from two schools - grades I-VIII -,
thanks to teachers Elena Afrim and Sanda Daian)
BURST OF FEELINGS
-by Daria Marcus (2012, grade VIII,
School 20);
artwork by children from Regina Maria School-

Pathetic similitude…
nothing vibrant,
nothing regular,
only a desert of thoughts and sensations…
just like an ample definition
for a hot summer day.

Malleable sunbeams ceased to veil
my body as a bouquet of optimistic feelings,
becoming small particles
of illusions and despondencies,
agitated like in a brownian motion.

In the evening
I watched the sky
and dreamed of a flight
to the discovery of a new planet
or even a new galaxy…
and suddenly a comet appeared,
a “tailed star”
eclipsing my vision on the entire sky…
and I really felt happy,
the time stopped around me for a moment.

“Travelling star of dreams?”
No, it was not an adequate name
because all could concentrate around dreams,
and the comet could lose its brightness.

“The Grain of Hope?”
Metaphorical and expressive,
it seemed much better.

Then falling stars began to sparkle
just like crystalline tears,
and I fell asleep
in a heaven of dreams.

ROMANIAN ROMAN CITY MODELS (III):
THE FUTURE UNIVERSE
-by Miruna Ignat (2012, grade IV,
Roman Voda College);
artwork by children from the “Quark de Liceu” astronomical circle-

The little prince asked me on a star:
“Would you like to be my girlfriend?”
I answered him from all my heart:
“Yes, I would!”

“I need a little help,
To plant in the galaxy suns that won't die
And white, green or brown moons
For every travelling astronaut.

I would beg you more, if you can,
A blue comet for my mother
And two stars for my grandparents,
To watch me happy from the heavens.”

Together we read a wonderful book
On the red planet, called Mars,
About Earth, the land of dreams,
Created in paradise for people.

In the afternoon, at about six,
A shooting star has led us slowly
To the Milky Way, where a maternity exists
With meteorites in the incubator and wrapped planets

In the evening, I said to him goodbye,
With my solemn promise to not forget him,
And just like that, when I grow up,
I'll change the world from head to toes!

UNIVERSE FAMILY
-by Simona Miron (2012, grade V,
Mihai Eminescu School, Romanian Roman city)-

It is gigantic. It is the Universe!
You cannot traverse it all.
Not even travelling with a rocket.
You can realize it only as a pattern.
The Universe is like a book,
With colored drawings,
With millions of planets,
With billions of comets,
With so many meteors and stars
That you lose yourself among them.
And if people would come,
Stars would receive them with joy,
And all of them would play a space ring dance,
Because heavenly bodies are good and hospitable,
And clement to mischiefs.
Just like a big family.
It’s so fine!
Universe Family!
Mother Moon,
Father Sun,
Aunt Comet,
Uncle Meteor,
Grandmother Planet,
Grandfather Asteroid,
And children from villages
Such as Stelly and Starry!

And now, the conclusion:
Universe is any gram,
Any crumb, any drop,
Any patch, any being...

So:
Universe = beings + heavenly bodies + Holly Spirit.

PUBLIC ATROARTWORK PANEL IN TARGOVISTE
(by students at Balasa Doamna Artwork High School;
credit: astronomer Valentin Grigore and teacher Carmen Antonescu)

TULCEA MODELS (III):
A STEP TOWARDS THE UNIVERSE
-astro-photo-poem by Elena Maria Popa (age 17, 2010,
member of Delta Orion Astroclub / Tulcea Children Palace;
she took the 5th place at Romanian National Astronomy Olympiad 2010
and participated at the Bucharest National Children Palace
national astrophotography contest in 2009 with the images below.)-

Astronomy is
a step towards the Universe.

But first when you say astronomy
you think of ciphers,
complicated definitions,
many names of stars...

Actually,
you need them in theory,
but only when you watch the sky
you understand that
it deserves to make acquaintance
of astronomy.

A STAR
-by Ana Maria Cucu (2012, grade XI,
Roman Voda College, Romanian Roman city)-

A star
Is surprised,
Motionless,
In an unborn sky,
She doesn’t want to sit in a place
Where it snows with oblivion flakes.

She will not fly forever
On a road leading into the abyss,
She will not swim in rivers of fire
Consuming souls and chaining them,
She doesn't want to look wounded toward the zenith,
And to be kissed by the unloving lips of the end.
She prefers not to be born into a universe of anyone...

DIGITAL ASTROARTWORK
(at the astrophotography contest of Bucharest National Children Palace 2011)
-artwork: 1.Andrei Cezar Argatu (age 18);
2. Elena Mihaela Mocanu (age 15); 3. Razvan Gavrila (age 16);
credit: teacher Minodora Carmen Lipcanu-

THE EARTH
-by Andreea Roxana Lupu (2012, grade X,
Roman Voda College, Romanian Roman city)-

From ancient times we have been learning
How to look upon the world
To keep everything we have
As long as we still can

We like that the sun warms us
And the moon shades us all
We want welfare for the earth
And the people to live as a whole

Night may be a good adviser
For our thoughts and our souls
Blessing us with pleasure
If in all things there is a measure

But we don`t care about our planet
And we mock it
We cut up the trees
And we will be punished for this.

We are searching for living planets
And we forget about our children
What world will they live in
When mankind will not have been?

SIBIU MODELS (IV)
JULES VERNE WROTE
“AROUND THE EARTH IN EIGHTY DAYS”…
-by Daria Marcus (2012, grade VIII,
School 20);
artwork by children from School 4-

… and I dream about
“Around the Milky Way in Eighty Days!”

EVENING
-by Ana Maria Cristea (2012, grade VII,
Iulian Rusu School, Marcesti, Dambovita County)-

When the evening lowers,
The Evening Star slowly appears
And the Great Chariot rises,
Seeing the small Polar Star.

Here is the Full Moon too,
Oasis of light in the night
Coming down from space
To caress my face.

EVENING STARS VENUS AND JUPITER
-photographic poem by Cristian Daniel Grigore (grade XI,
SARM, Targoviste)-

PRAYER TO VENUS
-by Ioana Patricia Roman (2012, grade XI,
Carol I High School, Craiova)-

Make me be inflamed and melt
Even though we might repent
If thee fetch me stars and dust and light
Thee shall be the Hyperion of my night

I doth shine like Venus seen at dawn
Now I'm bright and then I'm gone
In the morning ought I stop and sigh
Upon the glass and hunger for reply?

Oh Venus, goddess of beauty and love
Shine me your light beyond and above
Spread around me the smell of pale Primrose
And Queen, let me have my lovely English Rose...

SALUTE TO VENUS AND JUPITER IN MID-APRIL 2012
-photo by Cristian Daniel Grigore (grade XI,
SARM, Targoviste)-

EARTH
-astropoem-theatre by Ana Maria Anghel (grade VI, Switzerland,
born in Romania),
with photographic support by her parents Dana and Cristian Anghel-

Every time, everyone
Always thinks of so much fun
Really we should think of earth
That's what almost gave us birth.

Hooray again for our cosmic house.
I feel so warm in it... just like a mouse!

GALA ASTROARTWORK PANEL IN TARGOVISTE
-(exhibited at an astronomical event by students at Balasa Doamna Artwork High School;
credit: astronomer Valentin Grigore and teacher Carmen Antonescu)-

STARS
-by Adelina Pascale (high school student,
Tulcea Children Palace / Delta Orion Astroclub)-

It is said that every man
has an own star.
But... what does it belong
to the stars?

UNIVERSE
(in digital astroartwork by participants at the astrophotography contest
of Bucharest National Children Palace 2011)
-artwork: 1. Marius Codrut Bejan (age 17); 2. Andrei Gabriel Jitariu (age 15);
3. Radu Cristian Matei (age 17);
credit: coordinator-teacher Minodora Carmen Lipcanu-

GLOBAL ASTRONOMY MONTH
-by Matei Dobre (2012, grade VIII,
Gura Vulcanei School, Dambovita County)-

The Universe shows itself for us.
It is a wonderful world,
It is full of stars
And we like to see them.

One people, one sky, many stars…
We like to see them
And to study them
For finding more about our destiny.

JUNIORS OBSERVE THE SKY DURING GAM 2012
IN THE CENTRAL SQUARE OF TARGOVISTE,
CAPITAL OF DAMBOVITA COUNTY
-credit: Valentin Grigore and SARM team
(Alexandru Spoiala, Mihai Stoica, Andra Maria Sora, Alexandru Gabriel Tudor)-

STARS
-by Maria Anca Ispas (2012, grade VII,
Orthodox Theological Seminary, Targoviste)-

Watching the clear sky
is similar to a peaceful thought.

Stars lighten our ways
as a charming chain.
All seems to be a warm illusion
in everybody’s heart.
Stars are lost up there
and brilliantly smile.

I am also losing myself among them,
dreaming that I am a white dove.

SARM PREZENTATION AT ORTHODOX THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
IN TARGOVISTE
DURING GAM 2012
(Initiator: teacher Sorina Marinescu)
-credit: Valentin Grigore and SARM team-

HOPE
-by Maria Consuela Tira (2012, grade VII,
Orthodox Theological Seminary, Targoviste)-

When I watch the sky
it seems that the world
does not have limits,
and everyone’s imagination
can fly over any obstacle.

When I watch the sky
I think that everything is possible,
and when the night comes
and the Moon rises,
everyone’s hope strongly lightens
in the darkness.

GAM 2012 AT SPIRU HARET SCHOOL IN BACAU:
HOORAY FOR SPACE!
-credit: teachers Costantin Balanean and Clement Florescu-

WATCHING THE SKY
-by Eduard Cosmin Neagoe (2012, grade XI,
Petru Cercel High School, Targoviste)-

When I watch the sky
I sincerely tell you,
I leave myself carried by my feelings
and I get to a Universe
in which I feel lonely,
my mind gambols through dreams
and chokes over yearnings,
I am above,
walking through constellations,
quiet
and far of problems and temptations.

I don’t hear anybody,
I feel happy for a while,
I blink and
sketch a smile!

SARM PREZENTATION AT PETRU CERCEL HIGH SCHOOL IN TARGOVISTE
DURING GAM 2012
(initiator: teacher Ionut Nica)
-credit: Valentin Grigore and SARM team-

THE SKY
-by Ionela Chitu (2012, grade VII,
Orthodox Theological Seminary, Targoviste)-

When I watch the sky,
I feel like in another blue world.
The clear starry sky gives me
a calm, beneficent state,
but the sky covered by ashen clouds
gives me an insecure state.

However, one after another,
the sky gives me a good heart,
and when I stay on the grass
and I watch the white clouds,
it seems that they run,
wanting to play with me!

LAUREATE CHILDREN DURING GAM 2012 IN TARGU JIU
-credit: Marian Lucian Achim (chief organizer), Emil Fruntelata, Sabin Fota
and “Youth for Future”
Romanian Society for Science and Culture (SRCSTV) team-

…and a boy who tries to play star music…

LOVE IN THE UNIVERSE
-by Silviu Banu (2012, grade VIII,
Gura Vulcanei School, Dambovita County)-

I stay on a hill,
I watch the living sky
And I beg the proud Moon
To bring you back to me
In this magic Universe.

And we would watch the Evening Star
in a world full of stars.

SARM PREZENTATION AT GURA VULCANEI SCHOOL,
DAMBOVITA COUNTY
DURING GAM 2012
(initiator: teacher Florica Constantinescu)
-credit: Valentin Grigore and SARM team-

CONSTANTIN CARABELLA COLLEGE MODELS (II):
THE MYSTERIES OF THE COSMOS
-astro-art-poem by Ana Maria Ioana (2012, grade VI)-

It’s Monday, it’s boredom,
and we were called at school
for a banal lesson
about luminous stars.

But when we found out about the
Sun, comets and constellations,
about that surrounding world,
we all were amazed!

STARLIGHT
-by Dan Constantinescu (2012, grade V,
Carabella College)-

I am so small
as if I’d be insignificant
in a Universe which must be traversed.

Look, a star up there!
It seems to be quiet,
but we don’t know
if it has normally disappeared.

Because of the distance,
we still see its light,
which comes to be
in our sky
a big mystery.

SARM PREZENTATION AT CARABELLA COLLEGE
DURING GAM 2012
(initiators: teachers Maria Toma, Adelaida Petrescu, Gheorghe Matei)
-credit: Valentin Grigore and SARM team-

FEELING
-Elena Dumitrache (2012, grade VI,
Orthodox Theological Seminary, Targoviste)-

When I watch the sky
I feel both
as I would be near it
and as I would be a part of it.

SARM PREZENTATION AT DAMBOVITA COUNTY LIBRARY
DURING GAM 2012
-credit: Valentin Grigore and SARM team-

ASTRONOMY
-by Enceladus (2012, Targu Ocna, Bacau County)-

I am 12 years of age,
in the 6th grade,
and we have optional hours of astronomy at school,
but many of my colleagues are not interested,
maybe because of their years,
maybe because of other pursuits.

But those hours
are my happiness…

GAM 2012 AT A SCHOOL IN PLOIESTI :
FUTURE ASTRONOMER!
-credit: Cristian Danescu-

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE COSMOS
-by Ana Maria Stoica (2012, grade VII,
Iulian Rusu School, Marcesti, Dambovita County)-

When I watch the sky
I see a gate open
to the immensity of existence,
a bit of divinity.

A star is a glimmer of hope
for all the people who
rise their looks.

If we want to understand better the mystery,
we should watch the canopy of heaven every night
and thus
we would find the messages
hidden in the stars
that shine of joy and immortality.

SARM PREZENTATION AT IULIAN RUSU SCHOOL, MARCESTI,
DAMBOVITA COUNTY
DURING GAM 2012
(initiator: teacher Valentin Gogescu)
-credit: Valentin Grigore and SARM team-

REPLIES
-by Elena Claudia Bodea (2012, grade VII,
Orthodox Theological Seminary, Targoviste)-

“I watch the sky as far as I can,
but I watch only a part of mystery.”
“The sky is an eternal mystery.”
“If you would know all,
you would have nothing to discover.”
So:
“Magic exists in mystery.”

SARM PREZENTATION AT CONSTANTIN CANTACUZINO COLLEGE
IN TARGOVISTE
DURING GAM 2012
(initiators: teachers Maria Dragomir, Cristina Macris, Viorica Ferencz)
-credit: Valentin Grigore and SARM team-

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE OF THE UNIVERSE
-by Miruna Arama (2012, grade XII,
Roman Voda College, Romanian Roman city)

It would be inappropriate of me to see or describe the universe
from the perspective of a scientist or even that of an amateur in astronomy,
since I am neither.
For me, the Cosmos holds the subjective mark of an amateur artist,
which slightly modulates the myth of cosmogony in an original manner.

Always have I believed that the universe,
although it appears to be an undecipherable enigma,
should not be regarded as a separate entity from the “ego”,
from the human being,
but as a flux of energy to whom the human subordinates involuntary and undeniably.
The majority of those who study this area seem keen on discovering
only the far-away unknown, separating therefore the Cosmos from Earth.
But, after all, does not the Universe include all: what is about to be born,
what is alive and what fades to complete the infinite circle?
We are a part of the Universe in both immanence and transcendence,
so we should also try to feel it, not only to wrap it up in the parameters of science.
Logic is an unquestionable ally, indeed,
but it should not be the sole ruler of our actions,
because this way might exclude possibilities
just for not seeming entirely reasonable or real.
This universal vibration can be found in an insect, in a leaf and in a stone,
not just in the sky, stars or galaxies,
and it does not fade in the abyss of a worm hole,
in the same way as life does not end with physical death.
This principle of communion of all living things,
and by extension the harmonious bound between man and Universe ,
has its roots in ancient times in the Mayan culture.
Honestly, I think that the entire life lives and is organized by
ancestral primordial rules for which we are not yet initiated to understand.
Since reason has not yet explained everything which occurs in our daily life,
maybe after we first comprehend all the phenomena in our own narrow world,
we may try to grab the infinite.
On the other hand, human nature tends to reach for the absolute truth,
of which it is thirsty,
and this infinity is the horizon about which we rather dream than actually see.
But can we really comprise such immensity in the narrow angle
of our human possibilities,
denying so our ephemeral condition?
Or maybe because we are too aware of our fleeting nature
we search the metaphysical knowledge in what
we believe to be eternal - the Universe - failing therefore to see
our own drop of eternity - our soul.
It is rather hard for me and I am far from being qualified
to say whether and universal truth exists or not,
but to me everyone has its own absolute truth which is equally hard to find,
because it is buried deeply in the very essence of every human being.

In conclusion, if we make reference to the Universe,
we could metaphorically describe ourselves as stars,
since we are bodies with our own light and heat,
that struggle a lifetime to shine.

ROMANIAN JUNIORS AT
“INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMY DAY” AND “GLOBAL STAR PARTY”
(2012.04.28)

1. At Baia Mare;
organizer: Baia Mare Planetarium