with a view like this you can’t blame anyone

for putting on a tracksuit to try and escape.

look at it go! look at it cross the sky with a flash,

as if lightning had decided “i like where i am.

i think i’m going to sit here a little while.”

 

we’ve all been waiting and now, finally,

it’s decided to show itself and say hello,

and boy, did it make a debut or what?

coming around once things had started getting tense

and adding a bit of sparkle to the insanity.

 

i can hardly see it. there’s so many trees.

“once in a lifetime,” ruined by clouds.

but then, a shift, and there it is, clear as day,

a streak of beauty and find me crying,

“please, i don’t belong here, take me with you!”

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This poem was initially written on July 11th, 2020, to commemorate the appearance of C/2020 F3, or the NEOWISE comet.

 Rachel Davis ’22 is a current junior at Sweet Briar.