Eternity

and a poetic fascination with the cosmos

Eternity

We may pronounce each orb sustains a race
Of living things adapted to the place.
Were the refulgent parts, and most refine’d
Only to serve the dark and base design’d?
Were all the stars, whose beauteous realms of light,
At distance only hung to shine by night?
And with their twinkling beams to please our sight?
How many roll in ether, which the eye
Could n’er, till aided by the glass, descry;
And which no commerce with the Earth maintain!
Are all these glorious empires made in vain?

From Sir Richard Blackmore, The Creation: a Philosophical Poem in Seven Books (1712)

I recently came across this poem stanza collected by Sylvia Engdahl in “Early Space Poetry - Part I”. I was first lured to Engdahl’s writing when searching for early references to space in art. I, too, feel that tug to look up and express the awe of existence in an artful way. I love the many ways creatives share their experience with the known and unknown aspects of such vastness.

For me, these expressions often show up in unexpected ways…

Eternity: Ursa Major, the mother bear constellation, disappears within a complex tapestry of galaxies and planets, quietly holding this colorful universe together with her love and tears. For even beyond space and time, life and death, she will eternally watch over her children, loving them unconditionally. ~ A Painter’s Journey - Art Found in Process, Poetry & Possibility

… combining new ideas with old, patterned habits and trails taking me down new paths of ancient wonder.

Mapping Memories Part II

These little stitched studies were supposed to be botanical, yet they bear witness to my recent readings about a theory proposed in a March 2025 article by Lior Shamir that our galaxy is living inside a black hole. (Yes, I’m a little late to this party.) I find this theory fascinating! So far though, it sounds like the jury’s still out. As Paul M. Sutter points out in an April Scientific American article responding to this theory, it’s unlikely, but “…we never know what surprises may be in store.” ~ a recent Substack Note

“Are all these little empires made in vain?”

I think not.

In the dark days of winter

Remember to look up.

~ Jennifer