West
Coast Baby Blueshift*
by Henry Ahrens
by Henry Ahrens
*blueshift:
If
an object moves closer, the light moves to the blue end of the
spectrum, as its wavelengths get shorter.
https://www.space.com/25732-redshift-blueshift.html
for
Natalie
Doppler
shifts
push
high-pitched waves to the west
higher
than a baby's wail.
Shadows
fall
longer
than trees and wind blade towers,
little
candlesticks standing straight
in
winter's white cake,
Earth
rolling from the sun,
swaddling
clouds wrapping her tight.
Baby
stirs
in
the womb on the coast
ready
to tip the balance of many
lives
and loves.
Born
this day
after
a shift change at the hospital
far
to the west of snow-covered fields
and
long-shadowed airplanes,
light
still streaming on the coast,
warming
ocean breeze brushing waves
in
mother’s hair.
Henry
Ahrens
attended St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana, but now resides
in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he teaches a variety of high school
English classes. His works have appeared in From the Edge of the
Prairie, Tipton Poetry Journal, and Indiana Voice Journal.