Poem: Mourning Pluto's Passing ©

A little girl
Learning the order
Nine Siblings
Of the earth
My Very Educated
Mother Just
Showed Us
Nine Planets
And it made
Such sense
Because
My triple degreed
Accomplished Mater
Did do that.

Long walks back home
Red giants and Pulsars
Mischievous me
Kept quiet
Pointing out shapes
In the vast beyond.
Little diamond sparkles
While both discussed
Quasars and White dwarfs
Relativity figured
But the planets
Were my companions
Yellow Jupiter overhead
Brilliant Saturn
A smiling Venus
Even a Mars
Cannot see Pluto
The cartoon character
All the more endearing
He was a dog you see.

Asimov assisted
Adolescence
Astrophysics
Beckoning
The only career choice.

Things changed
But the beyond
Remained as fascinating.
NASA visit
Dreamy

And now
They realize
Pluto
Is not a planet after all

My daughter
Will never be able
To learn the names
Of the remaining....
Her mother will
Be educated
But there will be
No more nine.....
To name.