Night Class

"Look up there", he said,
Settling on his swag,

"Look up and learn"

The tufts beneath his bed

Rustled like a snake,

And all above,

A brilliant cosmos

Seemed to burn

And shake in its vault.

Between silences of breath,

Cones of steam ascending,

Hurtling points of light

Came on and on,

Some, 

Strange envoys of a death,

A core extinguished

In the flight, perhaps.

"Betelgeuse is

toast." he said.

"A supernova. That'll 

Be a sight!"

From 600 years past

The frail ruby

Shimmered in the night.

Through a glass darkly

As I suppose,

I too saw the giant,

Bloat with a bright

Consuming fire.