Pluto, Miley, Napoleon & Steve the insect

On the discovery channel, scientists found an insect that only lives for 5 minutes. I’ll call it Steve. Steve is the age of this poem, 5 seconds old, and already in grief. His parents, grandparents and great grandfather just died.

When there’s enough time, I can sit and listen
and the noises in my stomach which I took for a given
become a pamphlet to living
A little beast in my gut
punching its way out

In 2010, researchers concluded Pluto did not have the same behaviour as the rest of the planets and so Pluto was demoted. We lost 11% of the solar system that year. Surprise, surprise, Pluto did not stop its revolution around the sun! And everyone everywhere wonders whether we hurt its feelings.

Pluto doesn’t care and Steve is now a teenager.

When there’s enough space, I can start to move.
The twist of my hips plays a groove
that stops only when the playlist switches to silence
My dance is still floating in space
The wind I moved in my hurried pace

When you shout your voice reaches somewhere in the galaxy where all the songs this species has sung and all the shouts we’ve emitted have gone to coalesce. There is a corner in the universe where Napoleon’s voice is answering Miley Cyrus wrecking back with “Je ne nous laisserai pas prendre la France”.

Here I am, hear me out

Pluto doesn’t care, Steve is a crippled old man and Napoleon shouts in silence.

When I speak I wonder if my voice leaves ripples, if the ripples leave waves, if the waves drown continents and if the continents move the surface of the Earth … but they don’t.

Steve is dead, Pluto still doesn’t care and Napoleon is cheering for Miley.

It’s all fine in the resounding sound of silence.