“The Long Ringdown”

            ~ Luciano Rezzolla and their research group at Goethe University Frankfurt, as reported in Space.com

True to prediction,
in the curve
of universal fabric,
two neutron stars—
mutually attracted
against all counter swerve—
merge on a single frequency.
The resonant kilonova flash
sparks gold, platinum,
radioactive particles,
even the iodine
in our bloodstream cache.

With electromagnetic brio,
gravitational waves pour
from their frenzy
to set spacetime ringing.
The tremulous organ,
the heart at the core,
like a cosmic tuning fork
pulsing the state of remote
matter, compresses
all their music
to a single rippling
ultrasonic keynote.

Some clear starry night,
where we belong,
listen across memory
for our long ringdown
centered on a single B flat
to fill the air with song.