HEAVENLY TIME OF HOPE -
BOOK I of
COSMOPOETRY DIARY IN THE PANDEMIC:
CHAPTER IV (episodes (51-70)

Design: Florin Alexandru Stancu

51

SOCIAL CASTLE
(Bucharest, November 22, 2020)
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

Today I see social housings without personality:
blocks of flats from the communist epoch,
big containers and modern blocks…

And I remember that,
after the first neighborhoods with houses built for this purpose,
the first block of flats of this kind was made in Bucharest
in the 1920s (architect Lucian Teodosiu).

In fact, it looks like a spectacular castle
made in Neo-Romanian style,
with wooden sculptures including delicate solar-floral elements …

So I tried to catch, next to it,
even the Sun in the sky -
the major light in the primordial social housing
for the human species.















52

IN THE BUCEGI MOUNTAINS
(Meridional Carpathians, Dichiu and Vanturis zone, December 20-21, 2020)
Astro-photo-poem by Valentin Grigore

The Leaota Masiff, the Caraiman Cross, the Costila Relay…







Then, rising from the moonlight,
Orion of snow,
Ursa Major above the Bucegi Mountains
and happy people after the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.







Finally,
four friends crowned with glory.



53

THE VOICE OF A PALACE
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

Every time when I walked in the north
of the Victory Way in Bucharest,
I felt a mute voice that called me to admire
the Cesianu-Filipescu Palace,
remade in the 1880s in eclectic style.

But on November 6, 2020
that voice became more strident:
“Look at me,”
said the palace,
“and say what you see.”

I had to reply:
“I see the Sun among the clouds.
He looks quite pretty!”



















54

SUNRISE
(Bucharest, November 23, 2020)
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

“Come on, Sun!”
said the clouds.







“Come on, Sun!”
said the birds.







“Here I am!”
said the Sun.



55

MOON’S FASHING SHOW
(Bucharest, December 24, 2020)
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe





Big surprise!

On Christmas Eve Night 2020
I saw the Moon in her new cycle
for the first time after many cloudy days.

Then I saw how she assumes
a lot of gala costumes.



















56

THE MOON IN THE BUCEGI MOUNTAINS
(December 21-22, 2020, the Dichiu-Vanturis zone)
Astro-photo-poem by Valentin Grigore

…A winter night,
with the Moon and stars.
There is silence in the air and on the snow
between the fir trees.
Peace and beauty in the soul!

…Fir tree on white,
Moon on blue.

…And a lunar halo of 22 degrees,
with Mars inside and
Pleiades and Hyades on the left,
a circle of light
as a gateway to heaven.







57

SIRIUS’ FACES AND MORE
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe



On December 24, 2020,
a few minutes before the night quarantine,
I hardly saw Sirius through light pollution and fog
in the Children’s World Park.

On December 28, 2020,
the morning twilight announced a clearer day,
so later I enjoyed the sunset near the children’s observatory,
I went east to see the Moon,
and, a few minutes before the night quarantine,
I saw the same Sirius (near his fellow Mirzam)
looking much better in the same park.

And I felt I fully
lived the theory
of relativity
like in a heady,
asymptotic symmetry.



















58

BEYOND THE ARTIFICIAL STARS
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe







The month of December 2020 was so cloudy
(as if the pandemic contaminated all sky, too)
that I imagined I lived in a society of the future,
in which the view of the stars was blocked by
triumphal commercial lights and artificial satellites.

Pushing my simulation further, on December 18
I walked through Central Bucharest to see
Christmas Stars installed by the mayoralty.
I felt terrified thinking of such lights
as a permanence of the next centuries.

And I wished all sky lovers to always find power
to never abandon the fight against light pollution.

But the sky became clearer on the evening of December 24
(like a Christmas gift),
so I found an open space next to a brightly lit parking.



And I caught the Moon,
the Crowned Moon and Mars,
and Altair - the Head of the Eagle
becoming for me, again,
the symbol of a real star flight.







59

CARDINAL POINTS
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

On December 25, 2020
I turned my look
from west to east
and saw the Moon going
from east to west,
carrying a crown
and refusing any nest
for rest
in Bucharest,











60

ALWAYS ATTRACTIVE
Astro-photo-poem by Valentin Grigore



The Moon,
always attractive,
even in the end of November.

But to speak with her for the last time in 2020
I went to the Bratesti Lake,
the last astro-expedition of the year.

It was the last rise of the Full Moon
in the pandemic year.

Oh, dear Moon.
another year has passed with good and bad.
You delighted our nights with
rays, eclipses, conjunctions and occultations.
Now you brightly accompany us to the New Year.
What do you have in store for the future?

Good night!









61

IN THE CHILDREN’S WORLD PARK
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe



On December 28, 2020,
one hour before the night quarantine,
I started walking through the Children’s World Park
for the last time in 2020.

But the world of children was too affected by light pollution,
so I moved to the world of the Moon and stars.

And that world (Winter Triangle, Orion, Aldebaran…)
was also affected by light pollution,
so I moved to the world of leaves.

And I found there
the planet Mars
playing hide-and-seek
with the stars.







62

ALL DAY LONG
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

Bucharest, December 30, 2020.
Action!
“From Morning Twilight to Evening Twilight.”
(A “Sun’s Urban Follower” production).

























63

ASTRAL DETECTIVES
(Bucharest, December 25, 2020)
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe



“It seems to be a masked galaxy,
something normal in a pandemic.” -
said Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin.

“Or rather a bloody masked galaxy,
so we must find a murderer.” -
said Inspector Jules Maigret.

“But I think it is a masked nebula.” -
said Consulting Detective Sherlock Holmes.

“Or rather a masked bloody nebula.” -
said Detective Hercule Poirot.

“Lit from the Sun and lightening the clouds,
it’s just the changeable Moon…” -
was the verdict of a 21th century child.







64

VERTICAL MOON
Astro-photo-poem by Valentin Grigore

…The Moon in a fluffy nest of clouds in Targoviste…

…A pine tree which I adorned with the Moon
in the Bucegi Mountains
(wishing the world
high simplicity, silence and peace)…

… And here is a time when stars disappear
and the Moon puts a crown around her,
in the Bucegi Mountains, too…







65

LAST WALK IN THE PANDEMIC YEAR
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

On December 30
I walked for the last time in 2020
through Central Bucharest in the moonlight…

I buried the old year in celestial-terrestrial debates
with my old friends Engineer Sache and Marian.

Then blonde Selene came down on Earth
next to a statue, on a bench,
for a rendezvous with
her boyfriend Endymion.



















66

CONSTRUCTIVE DILEMMA
Astro-photo-poem by Valentin Grigore

Hey mate,
do we put the Moon
on the tower?



67

VERTICAL VARIATIONS
Astro-photo-poem by Valentin Grigore

In the end of 2020
I selected a gallery with vertical pictures
which I took in the last quarter
in Dambovita County:

a slide of stars
(Ursa Major over the Bucegu Mountains),
a romantic planet called Mars
(at Voinesti),
the Moon and Mars on a balcony
in Targoviste’s old center,
Jupiter and Saturn at the ruins
of Targoviste’s Old Princely Court,
Jupiter (with a crown and three satellites)
and Saturn (at Targoviste)…
Then Jupiter and Saturn (at Runcu Stone),
a preamble
of their great conjunction …

And at Ranca, in Gorj County,
a Geminid fireball (-6 magnitude, green, two explosions)
near the Pleiades, under the Milky Way,
a culmination of heavenly beauties!















68

LAST VIEWS
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
(Bucharest, December 28-31, 2020)

The last views of
Sirius,
the Crowned Full Moon before the night quarantine,
Procyon,
the Crowned Full Moon after midnight,
Mars,
the colors of the morning twilight,
the last Noon Sun
in 2020 (the bringer of the pandemic)

and great astral expectations
for 2021 (the killer of the pandemic)…















69

GREAT SIRIUS NEAR VERTICAL ORION
Astro-photo-poem (in a verse) by Valentin Grigore

Crowned as the greatest star symbol, such a happy vision!



70

EVERY END BRINGS A BEGINNING
Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

Invited by “Engineer Sache” and his wife Georgette
to spend the New Year night with them,
I saw another variant of the Crowned Moon on the road.



















But after midnight
the natural satellite
began to lose her crown
and I didn’t know
who was dizzier:
the Moon or me?



Then I began the next day with
the colors of the morning twilight
and the Noon Sun…
Welcome, 2021!





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