Kevin Hartnett Poetry

Behold the Fleeting Meteor

Photo by K. Hartnett

Behold the fleeting meteor:

His life so short; his flame so bright.

He brings no second stroke to make

His mark against the fallen night.

-- K. Hartnett, January 2000

O Lord, make me to know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! (Psalm 39:4)

A Bright Meteor; Blazing Its Way to Splendor

A bright meteor slashes through the constellation of Cassiopeia.  Usually no larger than small pebbles, meteors, or "shooting stars," are tiny bits of interplanetary material that vaporize many miles up due to friction with the Earth's atmosphere.  Some of these particles are the out-gassed debris from comets.  Without our protective blanket of air, the planet Earth would be subject to continual bombardment from meteors and other dangers, such as ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.  During the 1999 Leonid meteors shower, amateur astronomers using telescopes equipped with video cameras captured the impact of several meteors into the airless surface of the Moon.  If a meteroid entering our atmosphere were large enough, a portion may survive its fiery descent and strike the earth.  Such stones, called meteorites, are found all over the earth- but are particularly visible when strewn across the cold wastelands of the Antarctic.

The heavens are the heavens of the Lord; but the earth He has given to the sons of men.  (Psalm 115:16)

This is one of my favorite short poems.  It speaks of the brevity of life and how we should make the most of our time - a fitting thought for the closing moments of this calendar year.  The poem also subtly paints the visual cadence of a meteor shower in words. Anyone who has taken the time to lay out under the stars and view a meteor shower knows that the "shooting stars" appear both singly and in spurts of two or three.  Each lasts about the time it takes for you to count to three.  Thus the rhythm of the poem in the words "life so short," and "flame so bright," along with "second stroke," "make his mark," and "fallen night" are all meant to imitate the 1-2-3, see-it-and-it's-gone experience one has while watching a meteor shower. 

The Stars I See Are Yesteryear's

Photo by K. Hartnett

The stars I see are yesteryear's,

Their glow, from flames of glory past.

And now my life, a light, appears;

How far will my effect be cast?

-- K. Hartnett, October 1997

There is one glory of the Sun, and another of the Moon, and another of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.  (1 Cor. 15:41)

The Pleiades; Jewels of the Winter Sky

Unquestionably the most famous galactic star cluster in the heavens, the Pleiades form a glittering group of six to ten closely spaced stars to the naked eye.  A pair of binoculars or a small telescope, however, reveals a view similar to the one here, with dozens of icy blue diamonds against a background of velvet black.  The Pleiades have been regarded with special esteem among all cultures since antiquity.  To the Greeks, they were the Seven Sisters; to medieval German farmers, a Hen and Her Chicks  To modern day Japanese they are known as the "Subaru" and are used as the logo of cars of the same name.  Although the reference is not positive, most Old Testament translations identify the Pleiades as one of the constellations mentioned in the book of Job as the Lord challenges the patriarch to explain His great power and understanding.

Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades?  Can you loose the cords of Orion?  Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?  Do you know the laws of the heavens?  Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?  (Job 38:31-33)

The starlight we see at night predates the present.  Due to the vast distances of interstellar space, the light now arriving for us to see left its fiery source many, many years ago.  In this poem, I compare our lives to the stars.  What effect are we having on the darkness around us?  How many generations that follow us will know our influence?

This Picture His

What picture this, that testifies in time 
Of things so grand, sheer time cannot contain, 
And manifests a unity sublime 
Mere mortal consummations fail attain?

These earthly vows reflect the Mind of Love 
Which set eternity to be their end- 
Depicting here the joyful world above 
Where faithfulness on flesh will n’er depend.

A picture true, yet muted tint of truth- 
The order of these partners rightly made- 
No better than the faded print of youth 
To represent maturity conveyed. 

This picture His; its virtues fully shown, 
When Christ Himself shall marry those His own.

-- Kevin Hartnett, 11/2006 

 
"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31,32) 

…Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready… (Revelation 19:6,7)

I wrote this poem for Ken and Rachael (Cooper) Boer on the occasion of their wedding.  It's my first attempt in the renowned and revered English sonnet format.