Then he understood that here, so far from the city proper, the smoke was dispersed, and the stars were visible. He nearly lost his balance, looking up. The stars sparked, brilliant and unsteady on a field of ebony. There were thousands of them.
He knew them, some of them, from the map in the schoolroom. There was the Great Horse. There was the Hunter. There, so faint he could not be sure, but there, he thought, were the Pleiades, a cluster of minor stars, the seven, a circle of phosphorescence
I think it´s not the most suitable moment for this post after the power outage of the other day, but let´s do it, let´s talk about light pollution. All of the astronomical observatories are in remote places far from the cities for this reason, just like some animals that need the night. Even some trees go wild with so much light. But, as it was said in the film “Amanece que no es poco” about americans, nightlights have also some good things.
About the power outage, I´ll post soon a poem called “Defeat of Bill Gates” by José Emilio Pacheco. Meanwhile, we have Camarón and his flinty rock
With rock of flint
I´ve made a candelabrum
For me to be able to illuminate
Because more light, I don´t want it
Because more light I don´t want it, I live in darkness
I´m following one to one the stars in heaven, among red and yellow
Under the black ribbon of a silence
In a night so cold
And dark like velvet
When I put her mop of black hair
As a mantilla
Her mouth crashed next to mine
giving me kisses
And she even cried with joy
