Typewriter Rodeo: The McDonald Observatory

Each week, the Standard reaches out to Austin’s Typewriter Rodeo for a custom poem.

By Sean PetrieJuly 14, 2023 4:10 pm, ,

This Typewriter Rodeo poems celebrates one of Texas’ most beloved scientific treasures.

The McDonald Observatory
(the stars at night)

I tend to avoid it
The older I get
Things aren’t as clear
As they used to be
And driving is definitely
A headlights-onslaught
Challenge

But out here
Where the dimness is welcoming
Where the air seems to come
Even more alive
As the sun
Disappears

Out here
The night is a whole other world
No
Way beyond

Out here
It is like time
Has stretched itself
A blanket of light

There!
A whole galaxy
In a pinprick
There!
If you squint
You can totally see Voyager
Twinkling across the years
And if you don’t squint
Just let yourself be
Open
You can see
Wonders

Yes out here
I don’t avoid
Out here
I embrace
The night

And it
Does the same

a photo of the typewritten poem on a torn piece of yellow paper

 

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