Student Poems Inspired by Chandra Releases (2)

Jonathan Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at De Montfort University in the UK, wrote two poems called 'History Lesson' and 'Black Hole in B-Flat,' both inspired by Chandra discoveries, and featured on Chandra's blog. Because of the success of these poems, Chandra and De Montfort University subsequently ran a competition for Creative Writing undergraduate students, in which they were invited to submit poems inspired by one of Chandra's press releases. The competition aimed to uncover the poetry inherent in the kind of scientific discovery undertaken by Chandra, and the four winning entries certainly succeeded in doing precisely that.
Here are the first and second placegetters in the competition. The third and fourth placegetters included in a previous blog posting.

Cannibal

By Brittany Reid

From: http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/10_releases/press_091410.html

Surrounded by Hubble, Spitzer and Gamma Ray,
adrenaline courses through their bodies.
A cannibal is in the mist today.

A mirror image of our sun, so they say.
Mutton dressed as lamb for them to see,
surrounded by Hubble, Spitzer and Gamma Ray.

The double jets and dusty disks may
open its jaws for another catastrophe.
A cannibal is in the mist today.

The elderly giant gives a slow x-ray,
as it sits dormant, named the BP PsC.
Surrounded by Hubble, Spitzer and Gamma Ray

it swallows its neighbour and they
wait for ours to do the same. Maybe
a cannibal is in the mist today.

“It’s not always friendly out there,” they say.
Now it awaits you, alive with new energy.
Surrounded by Hubble, Spitzer and Gamma Ray,
a cannibal is in the mist today.

Medusa

By Sarah Parry

From: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/medusa/

The ancient Greeks feared your gaze,
Your stare could turn a warrior to stone.
Phorcys and Ceto must be proud,
As you float majestically, light years away.

Your stare could turn a warrior to stone,
We cannot deflect our view.
As you float majestically light years away,
A mass of snakes concealing a black hole.

We cannot deflect our view.
The X-Rays tell us so much about your past,
A mass of snakes concealing a black hole,
Your formation shows a bright future.

The X-Rays tell us so much about your past,
Your hair, a tidal tail created by a crash
Your formation shows a bright future,
We look to the stars for answers.

Your hair, a tidal tail created by a crash
Phorcys and Ceto must be proud,
We look to the stars for answers.
The ancient Greeks feared your gaze.