Beyond the orbit of Pluto,

Halfway out to the River of Light,

There’s a dimly-lit shroud

That we call the Oort Cloud

Where comets spend most of their night.

 

Gravity tugs on them gently,

From our planets, the moons, and the Sun

If, once drawn on their mission,

They avoid a collision,

Another journey’s begun.

 

The Nucleus, like a big snowball,

Starts to melt when it circles the Sun

The Solar wind blows

And the vapor-tail glows,

Flaring out as it grows on-the-run.

 

Approaching the Sun in it’s circuit,

The Nucleus leads at the helm

But, when going away,

The tail leads the way

On it’s journey back to the realm.

 

We give them all names when we find them

There’s Halley and Encke and West

There are so many more

That it’s hard to keep score

I won’t bother to name all the rest.

 

Some people only see Halley

Once in their lifetime I’m told,

Unless it appears

In their childhood years,

Or they live to be very old.

 

Halley takes seventy-six years

Some orbit in just a few more

But these are quite fast

‘Cause most journeys last

A hundred-million or more.

 

Push button below to return to the Poetry Page