The Galaxy's Headphones

Heide Orleth ‘22

Acrylic on canvas, a homemade gift given

To match a starry-eyed daydreamer

With her lyrical words

But with a closer look

Another scene is revealed

A supernova

The dying essence of a star

Long since imploded into the emptiness of space

A bright flash before eternal quiet

The coming color its last exhale

Tendrils of dust and gas reach into the black

In shades of evergreen and lilac

They curve and dance

Within an endless void

Nestled in its celestial arms

Floats a mass of metal, glass,

And life

A port.

Brimming with light in the dark

In the chaos

That a star left behind

They bring their own music to the black

Vessels made to cut through the rich fabric of spacetime

Churn and sputter as they join the fray

Locking onto the station’s open arms

Its interior holding the same vibrance

As the supernova

Page Break

From the furthest reaches of the galaxy

From any number of solar systems and stars

Speaking languages unrepeatable with the human tongue

The population blooms to

Rival any Earthen town

A haven of trade and communication

And in the palm of a crushing nothingness

Life persists

Deals are made, met, and broken

Songs are sung, stories exchanged

They breathe, smile, love, lose

Against the Logic that rules the black

But maybe that’s what one forgets

Logic

Science

Possibility

and Impossibility

Perhaps the painting is merely that

No grand tale to be seen or heard

Imagination trumped by Logic

Thankfully, that is a matter of opinion

And mine says

There is always a story to be found