This poem was created to honor NASA’s Clipper mission and will be engraved in her own handwriting onto the microchips mounted on the spacecraft.
Arching under the sky inky
with black expansiveness, we point
to the planets we know, we
pin quick wishes on stars. From earth,
we read the sky as if it is an unerring book
of the universe, expert and evident.
Still, there are mysteries below our sky:
the whale song, the songbird singing
its call in the bough of a wind-shaken tree.
We are creatures of constant awe,
curious at beauty, at leaf and blossom,
at grief and pleasure, sun and shadow.
And it is not darkness that unites us,
not the cold distance of space, but
the offering of water, each drop of rain,
each rivulet, each pulse, each vein.
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.
by Ada Limón retrieved from Library of Congress Poetry and Literature at this link on October 31, 2025.
Invitation: “It is not darkness that unites us…”
Ada Limon is the first Latina American Poet Laureate. She is the author of numerous children’s books, chapbooks, and poetry collections. Explore the writing of Ada Limón at this link:
https://adalimon.com/books
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 | A guest post by
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We are creatures of constant awe, curious at beauty, at leaf and blossom,at grief and pleasure, sun and shadow. ~ Ada Limon
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It seems to me a rare word, heard or spoken, these days -- awe. And, I wonder why? My best guess is the loud, bombastic narcissism that rules, sadly, the news and political scene in the US and some other countries is a contributing factor. The "I know it all" and "I alone can fix it" drowns out a sense of awe and mystery. And, it seems that mystery, humility and awe are all connected. So here's to more of mystery, humility and awe in my life, and in our lives, and in our society.