On August 24, 2006, an elite group of scientists declared Pluto too small to be a planet
and instead dubbed it a “dwarf planet.”
and instead dubbed it a “dwarf planet.”
Four summers
and four long winters ago
they took my pride,
my poles, my pretty
smile when late at night
sister Moon shines on me.
Four springs
and four long autumns ago
they took away my
rank in the galaxy,
said I am too small
to be a planet, only a dwarf.
Little they know:
size hardly matters
out here in the milky way
where I spin and shine
as I have always done
for a billion years.
Earl J. Wilcox writes about aging, baseball, literary icons, politics, and southern culture. His work appears in more than two dozen journals; he is a regular contributor to The New Verse News. More of Earl's poetry appears at his blog, Writing by Earl.
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