Pulsar

This poem is inspired by a visit to Jodrell Bank Observatory and specifically a sound file of pulsars ‘singing’ on this page. I’m sort of tallying singing pulsars with Dr John Dee’s idea of Angelic Voices. The symbols in the background are Dee and Kelley’s ‘Angelic Script’ that simply says ‘Pulsar’.

As with some of my other shaped poetry, this picture (like this one about Stanlow Refinery) is at this size means the text is not particularly legible onscreen. Printed at A2 size, as most of my shaped poems are, it reads fine, but the full  text is here, should you want to read it.

PULSAR

PULSAR 

Yes, I  
can hear  
you sing 
Ing. Warm 
ing the  
cold light  
of sci 
ence 
with con 
trapun 
tal pre 
cision 
                           And pulsing – gently – pulsing 
I won 
der if  
these mo 
tet tones  
conver 
ging in  
girder 
ed dish 
are the  
voices  
john dee  
and kell 
ey heard 
                      pulsing – gently – pulsing 
and scribed  
as an 
gelic  
edict –  
not a  
primal 
lighthouse  
signal 
ing the  
past from 
the rag 
ing pir 
ouettes  
of long- 
dead stars 
                          and pulsing – gently – pulsing 
its on 
screen trace  
(a blind  
rhythm – 
the diff 
erence  
between  
orches 
tra and 
cheap sheet  
music)  
antic 
ipates 
                        and pulses – gently – pulses 
it’s all 
egro  
enlight 
enment 
funneled  
through an 
tenna 
its stor 
y writ 
ten in  
sick green  
ribbon 
                                and pulsing – gently – pulsing 
ly-  
pulsing 
pulsing 
sing 
to 
me