by Ioanna Gika
Yesterday, President Biden unveiled one of the James Webb Space Telescope's images of deep space (above) as a preview of what's ahead: NASA, in partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will release the rest of the first full-color images and spectroscopic data during a live broadcast beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT today, July 12, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Released one by one, these first images from the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope will demonstrate Webb at its full power as it begins its mission to unfold the infrared universe. Each image will simultaneously be made available on social media, as well as on the agency’s website at http://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages .
We spin
into sunshields thin as hair;
set gold mirror to sail on armed ships.
With the river dredged,
the whites of fish eyes look like scattered stars.
Their bodies flop on muddy banks.
Overshot by billions
rockets launch, ripping into space.
Silver dollars and catfish behold their final sky,
and through the biggest telescope
we will see further than any—
to the vanishing point,
to the infinite,
to ourselves
staring right back.
Ioanna Gika is a Greek American musician and poet. She has performed at festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, and her work has been covered by The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Time Magazine. Her writing has appeared in places such as The Creative Independent and Oberon Poetry. Recently, her lyrics were quoted by Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy in her best selling book The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness. She is located in California where she is signed to Sargent House.