In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa
by Ada Limón
(published in The Best American Poetry 2024, edited by Mary Jo Salter and David Lehman, Scribner)
Arching under the night sky inky
with black expansiveness, we point
to the planets we know, we
pin quick wishes on stars. From earth,
we read the sky as if it is an unerring book
of the universe, expert and evident.
Still, there are mysteries below our sky:
the whale song, the songbird singing
its call in the bough of a wind-shaken tree.
We are creatures of constant awe,
curious at beauty, at leaf and blossom,
at grief and pleasure, sun and shadow.
And it is not darkness that unites us,
not the cold distance of space, but
the offering of water, each drop of rain,
each rivulet, each pulse, each vein.
O second moon, we, too, are made
of water, of vast and beckoning seas.
We, too, are made of wonders, of great
and ordinary loves, of small invisible worlds,
of a need to call out through the dark.
Poems written for specific occasions, called--surprise! occasional poems, are difficult to write. Great ones are near impossible. There is so much at stake in commenorating an event, making something official heartfelt yet not sappy. But I think Ada Limón pulls it off in her poem here, which was written for NASA's Europa Clipper mission (Limón is the US Poet Laureate) and was etched into microchips that go on the spaceship.
This is such a human poem, one that captures our ideal selves and is a great earthly introduction to other beings (fingers crossed that this happens). Limón focuses on our best: our hope, curiosity, emotions, kindness, sense of community, and our ability to feel awestruck, to marvel at both what we see and know and what we wish for an imagine.
I love how she intermingles nature, space, and humanity throughout the poem, epitomized here: leaf and blossom, at grief and pleasure, sun and shadow. Nature, human, space, co-existing and inspiring.
This seemed to me the perfect poem to post today, a nudge towards our better angels. Todays is Christmas. Hanukkah begins tonight. Kwanzaa bgins tomorrow, on Boxing Day. These are not all of the annual religious and cultural holidays, but they are three big ones--a good time to remember peace and joy and goodwill.
Read more about the Europa Clipper, including the poem, here.
You can also listen to Ada Limón read this poem here.
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