Connecting Cord by Christine Hemp   In December of 1998 Christine Hemp’s poem "Connecting Cord" was transferred to foil and loaded into the satellite observatory, SWAS (Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite) sent to record the birth of stars. Infrared astronomer at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Gary Melnick, was the lead investigator of the NASA project. The launch took place at Vandenburg Air force Base on December 5th and now SWAS is sending back data that sheds light on the pre-natal activity of stars. Hemp’s poem is watching over the stellar ultrasound. CONNECTING CORD For the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite Sent to Record the Birth of Stars. December 5, 1998 When a child is waiting to be born, light shines inside. No one but the mother knows what trembles there. She’s the blanket, the safe cloud, hiding her pin-point of glittery possibility. Far beyond our monthly tides and willful moon, light years cut a path to other embryos. Clouds collapse, distant swarms of gasses swirl through invisible infrared. Sometime when you’re in the bathtub or driving down the freeway, look up. Turn away from grief and your body which is fading fast. Behind your reflection in the water or the rear-view mirror, a star is asking to be born. Feel the ache in your forearms when you pass a lifeless cat along the road? The gash in your heart when your lover leaves? These are but the birth pangs of a distant body also yours. Waves of becoming move out from wrinkled sheets of time and space. Heaven herself lets out a cry. Transformation makes us writhe. But when the crisis passes, a new light sings: Fiery child, sparking us to see a bigger flame. Oh, and it’s burning, burning, burning!     --Christine Hemp Planet Earth, 1998   LIVING ON EARTH with host Steve Curwood, December 1999 Hemp sends a poem into space on a NASA rocket.Here she describes the launch. Rocket Poem in Space (mp3)  Hemp's complete Space Poem (mp3)       Christine Hemp listening as NASA rocket carrying "Connecting Cord" is blasted toward the cosmos     home · resume · recent publications · schedule · technical writing · course offerings list of clients · connecting chord · programs ·  poetry pages · bardic performances · contact Christine Hemp P.O. Box 674 Port Townsend, WA 98368 tel: 360-385-9005