Zodiac
1.
Galileo
In 1564, Galileo was born.
In 1589, he was granted a 3 year teaching contract at the University of Pisa where legend has him dropping objects of varying weight off the leaning towers edge to see them hit the ground. To prove Aristotle wrong.
In the spring of '09 someone whispered to him of instruments invented in the Netherlands that showed distant objects as though they were near.
Galileo's mind was always a fever. By August, he presented an eight-powered spyglass to Senate. By fall, he had created a twenty-powered spyglass and turned it towards the moon. Come December he had painted the moon with all her undiscovered scars.
By 1610 Galileo's spyglass was thirty-powered and with it he discovered Jupiter's orbiting moons. He named them.
Io. Ganymede. Callisto. and Europa.
Curious Galileo.
2.
Europa
I am Jupiter's 2nd moon.
The scientists say I was not always covered in ice. I am not always so cold. They have found layers here, beneath this frigid outer core. Some days, there are glimpses of ocean.
Quiet. If you listen hard enough to the stillness you can hear the ice layers moving, shifting, splitting.
The Scientists say I melt my own ice, the heat coming from my tumultuous core. The tumult coming from Jupiter's pull. They call it Tidal Stressing. Quiet. There are still small chances at life.
Only, I have been in this tailspin orbit for so so long.
3.
Jupiter
Ancient astronomers named Jupiter after the king of Roman Gods.
The king of Roman Gods was named after Zues.
Jupiter is the largest, fastest, heaviest and most magnetic planet in our solar system.
It is nearly its own star.
Though Jupiter is huge, it is not solid. Its surface is swirling chemical clouds. Scientists have not discovered a core.
Jupiter rotates once around its axis every 9 hours and 56 minutes. It is 88,846 miles across, 318 times more massive than the earth, and only 1/4 as dense.
Jupiter's magnetic pull is 14 times stronger than ours. It is this giant pull that keeps 63 satellites and moons in orbit.
Of these, Europa is the 2nd Moon.
1.
Galileo
On Oct 18th, 1989 Nasa launched an orbiter and probe on a trajectory path towards Jupiter. They named them Galileo. To work up speed, Galileo first had to fling itself recklessly toward the sun. Pass by the earth twice in a two year span. Take pictures of the moon.
Six years later, on July 13th, 1995, Galileo arrived.
Curious Galileo.
2.
Europa
I used to turn restless dreams in my sleep. My heart, a windmill.
I used to be twice haunted. I didn’t know. I belonged to my father and my land. I had one foot in heaven, the other on earth. I used to wear my purple gown and take my golden basket down to the edge of the ocean. I had been told of a land beyond its waters.
My eyes cannot see that far but there is a space just below my ribcage where my dreams still restlessly turn.
I pick flowers to pass the time.
3.
Jupiter
Ancient astronomers named Jupiter after the king of Roman Gods.
The king of Roman Gods was named after Zues.
When we first met, you came as a bull.
I saw you from across the field and I was afraid. You were such a strong and unpredictable animal.
Only there was something about the fool you became for me. You were nervous then. There is always a softness the first time.
When we first met, you were white as bone.
You met me here, by the ocean of my home. coaxed flowers from my fingertips. Invited me into this.
Some days, my eyes fail where my heart is big.
The story weavers say it is my rape, how you charmed me onto your back, carried me across the ocean, wed me queen on unfamiliar land and left me there alone. Some say. Some say, but I know. I was wearing my purple gown. I had carried my golden basket down to the edge of the ocean. I was picking flowers and waiting. When we first met, I put the flowers up around your neck. I climbed up onto your back.
I loved you more than walls of brick and bird songs.
And you, with your fiery passion, your shifting surfaces, you spin faster than any of us.
4.
This Orbit
quiet. quieter. Listen so hard your heart stops. Can you hear my ice layers moving? I try to break them from the inside.
curious galileo, pushing convex glass up to his eye, he discovered me here, stuck in this tether. orbiting around this old love of mine.
the whole earth wished I would come back home, but oh.
we moons hold our own alliances.
I have not always been covered in ice. I remember the day we met. It seems so long ago. The sunlight on the flowers by the ocean. And the maidens, all of us wearing flowers for crowns. once, I wore a purple gown. once, I picked flowers near my shores.
Galileo
In 1564, Galileo was born.
In 1589, he was granted a 3 year teaching contract at the University of Pisa where legend has him dropping objects of varying weight off the leaning towers edge to see them hit the ground. To prove Aristotle wrong.
In the spring of '09 someone whispered to him of instruments invented in the Netherlands that showed distant objects as though they were near.
Galileo's mind was always a fever. By August, he presented an eight-powered spyglass to Senate. By fall, he had created a twenty-powered spyglass and turned it towards the moon. Come December he had painted the moon with all her undiscovered scars.
By 1610 Galileo's spyglass was thirty-powered and with it he discovered Jupiter's orbiting moons. He named them.
Io. Ganymede. Callisto. and Europa.
Curious Galileo.
2.
Europa
I am Jupiter's 2nd moon.
The scientists say I was not always covered in ice. I am not always so cold. They have found layers here, beneath this frigid outer core. Some days, there are glimpses of ocean.
Quiet. If you listen hard enough to the stillness you can hear the ice layers moving, shifting, splitting.
The Scientists say I melt my own ice, the heat coming from my tumultuous core. The tumult coming from Jupiter's pull. They call it Tidal Stressing. Quiet. There are still small chances at life.
Only, I have been in this tailspin orbit for so so long.
3.
Jupiter
Ancient astronomers named Jupiter after the king of Roman Gods.
The king of Roman Gods was named after Zues.
Jupiter is the largest, fastest, heaviest and most magnetic planet in our solar system.
It is nearly its own star.
Though Jupiter is huge, it is not solid. Its surface is swirling chemical clouds. Scientists have not discovered a core.
Jupiter rotates once around its axis every 9 hours and 56 minutes. It is 88,846 miles across, 318 times more massive than the earth, and only 1/4 as dense.
Jupiter's magnetic pull is 14 times stronger than ours. It is this giant pull that keeps 63 satellites and moons in orbit.
Of these, Europa is the 2nd Moon.
1.
Galileo
On Oct 18th, 1989 Nasa launched an orbiter and probe on a trajectory path towards Jupiter. They named them Galileo. To work up speed, Galileo first had to fling itself recklessly toward the sun. Pass by the earth twice in a two year span. Take pictures of the moon.
Six years later, on July 13th, 1995, Galileo arrived.
Curious Galileo.
2.
Europa
I used to turn restless dreams in my sleep. My heart, a windmill.
I used to be twice haunted. I didn’t know. I belonged to my father and my land. I had one foot in heaven, the other on earth. I used to wear my purple gown and take my golden basket down to the edge of the ocean. I had been told of a land beyond its waters.
My eyes cannot see that far but there is a space just below my ribcage where my dreams still restlessly turn.
I pick flowers to pass the time.
3.
Jupiter
Ancient astronomers named Jupiter after the king of Roman Gods.
The king of Roman Gods was named after Zues.
When we first met, you came as a bull.
I saw you from across the field and I was afraid. You were such a strong and unpredictable animal.
Only there was something about the fool you became for me. You were nervous then. There is always a softness the first time.
When we first met, you were white as bone.
You met me here, by the ocean of my home. coaxed flowers from my fingertips. Invited me into this.
Some days, my eyes fail where my heart is big.
The story weavers say it is my rape, how you charmed me onto your back, carried me across the ocean, wed me queen on unfamiliar land and left me there alone. Some say. Some say, but I know. I was wearing my purple gown. I had carried my golden basket down to the edge of the ocean. I was picking flowers and waiting. When we first met, I put the flowers up around your neck. I climbed up onto your back.
I loved you more than walls of brick and bird songs.
And you, with your fiery passion, your shifting surfaces, you spin faster than any of us.
4.
This Orbit
quiet. quieter. Listen so hard your heart stops. Can you hear my ice layers moving? I try to break them from the inside.
curious galileo, pushing convex glass up to his eye, he discovered me here, stuck in this tether. orbiting around this old love of mine.
the whole earth wished I would come back home, but oh.
we moons hold our own alliances.
I have not always been covered in ice. I remember the day we met. It seems so long ago. The sunlight on the flowers by the ocean. And the maidens, all of us wearing flowers for crowns. once, I wore a purple gown. once, I picked flowers near my shores.
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