Pluto's summer vacation

Lyndal Frazier-Cairns

Once every ten generations
Pluto takes a summer vacation.

With her elliptical orbit
she cuts the line
and slips in closer than Neptune.

I imagine her tiny body
glowing in the -300F sunshine,
her atmosphere building
like sunscreen.

And Neptune
a sea god with no god damn sea
is looking on like a horrified lifeguard
as her motley crew of underworld moons
take over the beach.

When he sees her sunbathing
glorious and pale as Bathsheba
out of line but
in her element,
I hope he feels a chill.

Copyright Lyndal Frazier-Cairns

The Science

Pluto's elliptical orbit means that for 20 earth years in every 248, the planetoid is actually closer to the Sun than Neptune. This poem describes the changes Pluto undergoes when exposed to more radiation than normal - the methane spires on the surface sublimating from ice to gas and building in the atmosphere along with molecular nitrogen.

The Poet

Lyndal Frazier-Cairns is a poet who lives in Portland on the west coast of the US. She writes scientific poems about math, physics, and the environment. In December 2020, she released her first chapbook, Planet-ish. Find her on Twitter at @LyndalCairns and her poems at planet-ish.com.

Next poem: The Seasons of Research by John Malloy, Jessica Noviello & Jen Walsh