How to Approach a Supernova

Ten

Don’t get too close.

Nine

You are no super-human astronaut in the thrall
of a brutal,
brilliant cosmic flash.

Eight

Keep away from powerful explosions
brighter than the Milky Way.

Seven

You know, it may not be a supernova.

Six

It may well be the freaky death throes of a star,
torn apart by the tidal
forces of a rapidly spinning black hole

Five

or the black heart of some distant galaxy,
a spaghettified star colliding with itself
in an intense burst of light.

Four

However bright and starry the night

Three

and however blue the galaxy,

Two

try not to fall for a supernova
or into the eddy of a black hole –

One

and don’t forget to make a wish.

Kim M. Russell, 11^th April 2018

My response to The Poetry School NaPoWriMo prompt for Day 11: Counting

Ali has given us the three example poems today and advises us to take note of how the poets use the device of numbered sections, of counting, to tell their stories. He would like us to use either numbered sections or counting as a device in some other way to tell your stories. The example poems are: ‘The True Story of Eleanor Marx in Ten Parts’ by Tara Bergin, ‘New World Hymn’ by Momtaza Mehri, and Abigail Parry’s ‘The Knife Game’.

I chose to rewrite a poem I posted in March 2017, ‘Brutal as a Supernova’.