#18 - A poem to swallow the stars and dissolve into the universe

In this episode, I read "Antidotes to Fear of Death" by Rebecca Elson. This is from her collection - A Responsibility to Awe.  It's a short poem written by one who was both an astronomer and a poet. I find the scientists who write poetry fascinating. They have one firm footing past the door of theorems and proofs and research that definitively expands our knowledge. And at the same time they acknowledge all that is yet to be fully understood, that is beyond truisms and falsehoods, that which we cannot measure and define. She wrote this poem in response to her illness, blood cancer that she lost her life to at the age of 39. It is an ode to life but also an acceptance of death as a gateway to another form of being in this universe. Listen in!    I read from the Brain Pickings website here - https://www.brainpickings.org/2020/04/10/antidotes-to-fear-of-death-rebecca-elson/  The host, Ravneet Bawa as -   @one_third_above on Instagram   @maikeya on Twitter   Email: [email protected]       Disclaimer: This podcast is created for sharing with friends and family, and only as a passion project amidst the Covid lockdown with no commercial interest. In all episodes I read from sources on the public internet or copies of books I possess. The commentary is all my own.