Planet Rock

So the Astronomical Society decided
that Pluto is no longer a planet.
Now, it holds the rather emasculating title
of "dwarf planet," with its brother-moon Charon,
no more living through the telescopes of idealistic kids
embracing him when they couldn't find a name for what they saw
unable to quite find Heaven

It was working with kids
who were just starting to name the planets in order
that I understood why Pluto didn't have a chance.
On hot dog day, when passing out lunches,
we were first given indication of this male fascination
with size.
The boys would dig through piles of chips
line up cups of fruit punch side by side
To see who could make the triumphant claim
of having the biggest chip in the bag
And it sounds ridiculous, but I wonder if this
has something to do with someone
In the Astronomical Society trying to make up
for something else...
I bet Pluto thinks of Earth as that guy
that has the beautiful mansion with the manicured lawn
and the bitchin' car
as means of compensation,
Like "look at me, I can sustain LIFE! I'd like to see
the bigger guys like Saturn and Jupiter try to do THAT!"
And I wonder if the men in the lab coats
ever thought of it in that light.

The night after the Pluto findings hit the news
I went to the Blue Note and discovered
that there is a thriving hip-hop scene
in the middle of Missouri.
And I wanted to tell the men in the lab coats
that I had discovered something about the universe as well
that the rotation of the earth is set to the syncopated pace
of gyrating hips and spinning heads, the wild whirlwind
movement of b-boys and b-girls
that hands thrust toward heaven to a thumping bass
are the pull that allows the earth to rock
comfortably on its axis

There is no use classifying the stars
frustrated by size and diameter
when we, in moments of reverence
of the movement and each other
make up the galaxy.