Two Suns

by David Lindsay

Saturday 6th October 2012 6:43 pm (first posted Saturday 24th March 2012 8:23 am)

We're orbiting our star, the sun, at quite a decent speed

We've been doing that for billions of years, scientists are agreed

But apparently, many stars we know, have got a twin - they're binary

So if our Earth had two suns, not one - how great would that be?!

Imagine how much warmer and how much lighter it would be

As our two hot globes dance in the sky and we sail fancy-free

Through the void between them, around them or above

It sounds like fun, and twice the sun could mean we double the love

But then, what would happen to the moon? - I like to see her gleam

Would we lose her for a while, when along our path we steam?

If we did, I'd insist we pick her up again on our journey back to base

It's rude to keep a lady waiting, especially in cold space

What of the other planets, our neighbours round the sun?

Would there be eight or nine of them, or maybe twenty-one?

With double gravity a-pulling, that's possible I'd say

But they'd need to form a queue or they'd get in each other's way.

We'd need some traffic lights in space, to prevent an awful jumble

If Neptune cut in front of Mars, he'd make her trip and tumble

Perhaps I'm worrying over nowt, perhaps they'd all behave

To not do so with two "sun mums" watching would be rather brave!

Back on Earth in the early years, what changes might there be?

Would the tides be any different, would there be more land / less sea?

The plants and animals that grew around could’ve been so very different

Would the dinosaurs still have come about, to then become extinct?

And what of jolly homo erectus and our other predecessors?

Could they have survived and stayed alive to bring forth the same ancestors?

If so, would we still have, in this fair land, Stonehenge to pave the way

To measure out the seasons and the solstices today?

I could be wrong but 8 seasons a year we'd have - have I got that right?!

And for half the year we'd also get pure days, i.e. there'd be no night

And how long would a year be, how many months, how many weeks?

And without the stars above to count, I guess we'd have to stick to sheep.

I like the thought of two summers, two autumns and two springs

I'm not too keen on winters, but you can't have everything

Without seeing all the stars and having planets all akimbo

We wouldn't have astrology, so no daft TV bimbos!

Would we have sun-signs instead of star-signs, well who knows?

But new calendars would be needed to match celestial do-se-dos

Two darling buds of May and two autumn falls would be quite nifty

But longer years mean we'd leave school at 8 and die before we're 50!

Twice daily sunrises and sunsets would be beautiful to see

So would watching Halley's comet double-looping like a bee

But the whole thing could be chaos, there's a "Goldilocks zone" I hear

Too close to a sun - we'd frazzle, too far - we'd freeze, I fear

So let us not be greedy, after all, having one sun works just fine

We've one sunrise and one sunset and a good grasp of the time

We've LIFE and heat and daylight thanks to that single golden ball.

I say let's stick to one, 'cause if we try for two, we might not be here at all!

Comments

David Lindsay

Wed 28th Mar 2012 19:00

Thanks for these encouraging comments. I might get round to tidying it up at some point, but will leave it for now I think. Happy to take on board any specific pointers on particular lines to get me on the right track though.

Harry O'Neill

Sun 25th Mar 2012 21:55

I like this as an example of thinking `outside the box`...something I think we poets should do more of (to shake scientists and astromoners out of their weary `scientific` ruts and make them look at the real wonder of what they`re discovering)This does it in a `what if?` sort of a way.

I disagree (respectfully) with Yvonne...The music hall monologue is usually dramatic, and needs to be neat, whereas this is lightly speculative and can bear a bit of untidiness.

Yvonne Brunton

Sat 24th Mar 2012 22:40

Yes it's long, but it works, as the content of each stanza is quite witty, not boring.
However you need to work on the metre in something this long because it occasionally stutters which makes the whole thing lose it's pace and it's good flow which will save it from boredom.
I say this as an afficionada of the old music hall monologues (Marriot Edgar/ Stanley Holloway et al)so it's only my personal opinion. Cheers. XX

<Deleted User> (10123)

Sat 24th Mar 2012 08:51

Hi DL, Nutty Nick to the rescue. TA-DA me write a bit too. If this is your early days on the pen, then this is a valiant effort. I'm wondering why the lines are roughly 15 beats and not necessarily in an organisded way. Soft/Strong beasts is the 'iambic' way (dit-dah dit-dah etc) is more common. The various combinations of this theme each have names. (some poets on this site know all of them, so beware!) Starting lines with dah-dit or dah-dit-dit is seen often. The possibilities are near endless - whatever you do, have fun with it. If you do, they waill (Oops Freudian slip)Hope I've been helpful. Ta muchly, Nick.

Sat 24th Mar 2012 08:25

Sorry, it is on the long side. Would welcome any feedback though. Anyone written on the same theme or with the same title? - would love to have a read!

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Two Suns

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