The Arrow of Time
We are in the backyard
With our children at night
Looking at the stars:
“The light of the Orion Nebula
Began its journey to us
At the time of the Roman Empire.”
Time expands, now we live
Fourteen billions years after
The beginning of time.
Space widens and grows
Larger, the space arrow
Follows the arrow of time.
Energy, which is heat,
Decreases, it’s much colder
Now in the Universe,
“Even on a hot day like this,”
You say. But it’s hot
Inside the nebulae–
Those “beds of young stars”
That are cooling down
As they grow into adulthood.
*
And so, since we’re star dust,
How can we not embrace
Our temperate onward journey,
The office and the living
Room, their ample space
For each, with time alone?
The marriage is made
Of words and the space
Between each of them.
I search the Orion Nebula
On our wedding anniversary—
Our two young stars grow.
*
Last evening on our walk
We saw a pair of red cardinals
Chase each other on the street.
I couldn’t stop thinking
About good omens,
Their loyalty to one another.
A house later, a baby hawk
Attacked a nest of sparrows,
And the tiny birds pecked
At the hawk’s wings, cried
Together, coordinated missile
Attacks, one after the other
Till the hawk flew to the top
Of the chimney. When
It returned, it hit the nest
And we left when wings
Flapped in branches,
Saw the mother hawk
Watch the hunt from
The top of the chimney,
Large and glorious.
No matter how small we are,
Fear disappears when it’s
Time to protect the nest.
*
There are many things
We see in the quieter world
These days of Lockdown.
Schools of fish ruffle
The sea surface, now that
Few boats disturb the water.
Two monarch butterflies
Circle around us
Outside the front door.
A flock of quails waddles
Through the back garden,
Roses blossom constellations.
Silence feels airy between us.
Time won’t retrace itself.
Yet, in your eyes I see
Our past together, one
Single arrow aiming
The way of the stars.
2 August 2020
Carmen Bugan 