When we were in high school together, I thought I was a poet. I was the poetry editor of our high school literary magazine. Almost everything I ever wrote revolved around Myndie. Due to embarrassment and a number of other reasons, I have pretty much abandoned writing. But for this momentous occasion, I decided to try again. To Myndie. First the poem, and then a little explanation.
SIRIUS
You taught me to wish
on stars
in a pause of silence
the gravity of which was real
to you
and then
to me
I found you
in every night
the first and the brightest
in all the sky
dangling from Orion's ankle.
It made me smile to learn
my star
was not alone
in the night
but binary
pulled tight in an orbital dance
eternally
and this became
my unchanging wish:
a gravity
to keep us close.
Eight years
and 213 days ago
the photons that now light my eye
were created
the fusion of hydrogen
And I think of that day
and where we were
then
and I think of where we are
now
and of a coming day
in eight years
and 213 days
where will we be
and wish again
unchanged
for gravity
an eternal circling
with you
my first and brightest.
Now I suppose a bit of an explanation is in order. When I first met Myndie, she wished on stars as I had never known anyone to do before, with a reverence almost of a prayer. And soon I would do it with her, as she silently looked up. Every night, one of the first stars to appear was Sirius. I didn't know its name or significance at the time, but learned to find it in the sky, always hanging just below and to the left of Orion. Myndie would often ask what I would wish for. My wish was always the same, or at least every wish centered around Myndie, and that things could always be good with us.
I was taking an astronomy class at the time. We learned about Sirius, and that it was actually made up of two stars, Sirius A and B, and that its brightness was in part because of the two stars shining together. I like that thought. And of course, one shines brighter, and that is my Myndie.
The time, 8 years and 213 days, is how long light takes to travel from Sirius to earth. And since she was born on this earth, the light from Sirius has come to earth and bounced back 4.66 times. Happy birthday! I love you, and always will!
Dave
