THE NEW MOON

BY TRACY SCHLAPP

The universe is under no obligation to make sense to us. It is observations that matter, even if they conflict with what feels right to you.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Last night we enjoyed a cold, clear sky. The New Moon hid herself, just a sliver in the sky. Lately, when I look up, I try to identify the stars. The human world has been temperamental — no, I’ll say it — volatile. Watching the moon somehow steadies me. I think of the ancient philosophers, the mystics, the explorers, the scientists who have woven their observations together to identify the constellations, to make a connection between the world they live in and the world over their heads. Tonight, seven planets in the Solar System will appear in the night sky at the same time — Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars will align. It's not uncommon for a few planets to be on the same side of the Sun, but it's less common to have this many planets line up. A celestial feast.

Steven Leech writes from our newest group at Deer Ridge in Madras where most nights he can look up into a clear night sky, from Dear Night Sky, Please Tell Me Why:
In the vast night sky and the emptiness of space
there is no way that we are totally alone in this place.
We always think and believe that we are the pinnacle of creation,
but what if we never have and never will hold that station.

Writing from Pendleton’s Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution, Jacob W. Harper turns his keen eye to how landscape influence the way a person frames his world perspective in his essay The Natural Question:
The man of the country, whose world revolves upon agriculture and husbandry, questions the weather and the time which he fights against. He will question the greater world so far as it reflects on the price of corn, oil and beef. The world truly did not become smaller, the relevance of another’s problems is 10,000 miles away, not less important, but what frames his perception is what he has the time and capability to manage.

And from Oregon State Penitentiary, Justin Hunter’s The Words You Owe contemplates the open and close of cycles from sunrise and sunset to the beginning and end of life. Hunter’s observations remind me that the universe is not obligated to make sense to us, and yet, it provides us with veiled mysteries, layers of discovery, the comfort of moon cycles. Our brains and hearts make glorious connections and from that scientists and artists alike look deeply into darkness and feel awe. | TDS