A streak of light across the heaven,
A body burns in Earth’s hostile sky
Drawn close by gravity’s fatal attraction.
Then in but a few seconds,
A meteorite thuds dirt or bursts on rock:
Somewhere an explosion is heard.
A bit of stone or iron smolders:
Matter unchanged since the Sun was born
Had come in cometary orbit to Earth.
The meteorite parent,
If it can be found, contains secrets of Earth’s birth:
A challenge given to man by God.
1973
Reprinted from Meteoritics, v. 10, no. 3, p. 288.
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