To the Oldest Recorded Supernova

The wise Chinese
Saw your finest final light
With their own eyes.
To them you were new
And incongruously bright—
So they honored you
With a name:
Guest Star,
As if you had wandered
Into their well‐mapped skies
From some far country,
Bearing radiant news.
I wonder if they mourned
Your sudden loss
From their inky night,
Thinking you’d gone
Forever
After such a short time.
And yet—
After two millennia
You are still here—
A spirit preserved though dispersed
In a chaotic cloud of heat
And a multitude million particles
Glowing teal and red,
Streaking subzero space
With your persistent presence.

Julie Sumner is a writer who posts new poems, prayers, and devotionals on her weekly blog, windowonwords.com.

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