NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 A new work by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Lim贸n, written for an upcoming NASA mission to Jupiter's moon Europa, is a glance at outer space that returns back to Earth.
Lim贸n's 鈥淚n Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,鈥 which she read Thursday night during a ceremony at the Library of Congress, is part of NASA's 鈥 鈥 as the aeronautics and space administration prepares for a years-long journey. The Europa Clipper is expected to launch in October 2024, with 鈥淚n Praise of Mystery鈥 engraved on the spacecraft.
鈥淲riting this poem was one of the greatest honors of my life, but also one of the most difficult tasks I鈥檝e ever been assigned,鈥 Lim贸n said in a statement released through the Library of Congress. 鈥淓ventually, what made the poem come together was realizing that in pointing toward other planets, stars and moons, we are also recognizing the enormous gift that is our planet Earth. To point outward is also to point inward.鈥
During a recent interview with The Associated Press, Lim贸n said she struggled at first with the poem, explaining that because of its official nature she couldn't rely on her usual instincts. After working on more than a dozen drafts, she received invaluable advice from her husband, Lucas Marquardt, who urged her to write the poem is if it were personal, a 鈥減oem that you would write anyway.鈥
鈥淚 think of all the times as a child that I would look down and find a whole universe in the grass, or in a small, watery wedge from the creek across the street from my house,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut than I also think that that was in tandem with looking up at the moon.鈥
The 7-stanza poem begins as a tribute to 鈥渢he night sky inky/with black expansiveness,鈥 a sky we read as an 鈥渦nerring book of the universe.鈥 But, Lim贸n adds, treasures can be found below the sky.
"O second moon, we, too, are made
of water, of vast and beckoning seas.
We, too, are made of wonders, of great
and ordinary loves, of small invisible worlds,
of a need to call out through the dark."
Lim贸n, 47, has been poet laureate since 2022 and was recently appointed by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden to a second term, lasting two years. Her books include 鈥淏right Dead Things鈥 and 鈥淭he Carrying.鈥
