First Day of Yule-tide 2020

 

On the first day of Yule-tide my true love gave to me, a science laboratory,

 

 

Away from the Sun, beneath the ringed splendor of Saturn

A tiny moon gleams with reflected light

It glitters with plumes of water

That shoot up from its icy crust

Sending wisps of ice crystals into space

To join their brethren in a ring

Around Saturn.

Below, down below, beneath the icy crust

Beneath the fissures that channel curtains of water

Up towards space

Is an ocean

And down, down, in the depths of the ocean

In citadels encircling hydrothermal vents

Islands of warmth on the seafloor

Are the sentient cephalopods

Among them the elegant and graceful

Blue skinned, slender armed

Tani.

Tani is a curious creature

And her large eyes are as full of wonder

As they were when she was a tiny squirt

Only now they are enhanced by the telescopes

Through which she peers

Searching for answers

To the mysteries of the universe.

In the coldest time of year

They hold a celebration

Twelve days of warmth and love

Twelve days of Yule-tide,

And this is a year of special importance

For Tani has been working at the astronomy laboratory

For a full third of Saturn’s year,

Her significant other, her true love

Promised her a Yule-tide like no other

And led her to a site of recent construction

Into the astronomy laboratory

And through the arching doorway,

“Surprise!”  The soundwaves rippled through the water

Tani ran an arm over the door and found the inscription: Tani’s Lab

Overwhelmed with joy she twirled through the water

As her friends and family and coworkers celebrated

For the first day of Yule-tide

Her true loves one and all

Gave Tani a science laboratory.