Six hundred years ago give or take
The way it was before Columbus invaded America
The light I see arriving tonight left Betelgeuse
The red spot on the right shoulder of Orion.
I could not read the sky constellations as a boy
Ignorant except for what my friend Nicky saw
Pointing out what he called the three sisters
The cluster that I later learned comprises the belt.
Living close to the light pollution of Manhattan
Only the brightest stars are visible if any
Where another Nick who calls me Tommy lives
Reminding me of my childhood dreams.
Someone smarter than me figured out the dimensions
The distance to that red giant star so enormous
The orbits of Earth, Mars and perhaps Jupiter
All would be enclosed within its diameter.
Compared against the blueish left foot Rigel
The red glow of Betelgeuse shows forth
Turning the night sky into sparkling colors
An amazing scene hidden above our urban lives.
Betelgeuse is pulsating strangely bright and dim
Perhaps about to burst into a supernova
So bright it would be visible in the daytime
A cosmic event sure to frenzy the believers.
But what we would be seeing is such old news
Traveling the distance from there to here at the speed of light
Try to imagine what our world will be like
By the time what is happening there now gets here.
