Tag: Scott Edgar

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All-Seeing by Scott Edgar

Galaxies can run
But can’t hide – Gravity’s lens
Will bring them to light

by Scott Edgar

This haiku explores the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, where the gravity of a massive object bends light from more distant galaxies behind it. This effect allows astronomers to detect and study galaxies that would otherwise remain hidden — brought into view by gravity itself.

Further reading:

‘Hubble’s Gravitational Lenses’, NASA Science, available: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/universe-uncovered/hubbles-gravitational-lenses/

‘Gravitational Lensing’, European Space Agency Hubble News, available: https://esahubble.org/wordbank/gravitational-lensing/

Author bio:

Scott is a father of five who finds peace in long desert hikes, wildflowers in mountain meadows, and the occasional perfectly shaped rock. He’s a self-published poet with three books out, including a collection of haiku, and a fourth on the way, the host of The Poet (delayed) podcast (available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts here: https://blessed-pine-5317.fireside.fm ), and the co-founder of “Torchlight,” a monthly arts and open mic event in Bountiful, Utah. He also practices law in solo practice, balancing the legal world with a steady pull toward creative life. You can follow Scott on Instagram @poetdelayed.

Read more of Scott’s sciku here.

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Message Lost by Scott Edgar

Through interstellar
Space to us then getting lost
In yellow street lamps

by Scott Edgar

This haiku captures the bittersweet journey of starlight. After traveling tens or hundreds or even billions of light years through interstellar space, it ends up lost in the ambient glow of artificial light.

On a practical level, it reflects the impact of light pollution: how the soft yellow of street lamps drowns out the ancient light of stars, severing a connection that once bound us to the night sky. What was once a shared human experience of looking up and seeing the cosmos is now dimmed, both literally and spiritually.

Further reading:

‘Light pollution has cut humanity’s ancient connection with the stars – but we can restore it’, 2023, Graur, O., The Conversation, available: https://doi.org/10.64628/AB.afg9r7ph9

‘Stars disappear before our eyes in light pollution, citizen scientists report’, 2023, U.S. National Science Foundation, available: https://www.nsf.gov/news/stars-disappear-our-eyes-light-pollution-citizen

Author bio:

Scott is a father of five who finds peace in long desert hikes, wildflowers in mountain meadows, and the occasional perfectly shaped rock. He’s a self-published poet with three books out, including a collection of haiku, and a fourth on the way, the host of The Poet (delayed) podcast (available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts here: https://blessed-pine-5317.fireside.fm ), and the co-founder of “Torchlight,” a monthly arts and open mic event in Bountiful, Utah. He also practices law in solo practice, balancing the legal world with a steady pull toward creative life. You can follow Scott on Instagram @poetdelayed.

Read more of Scott’s sciku here.

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Future is in Superposition by Scott Edgar

Your future is in
Superposition so breathe
Be present today

by Scott Edgar

Rooted in the idea of quantum superposition, this haiku reminds us that the future is not fixed, only possible. Obsessing over what might happen pulls us out of the only place we have any power — the present. In trying to control tomorrow, we lose today.

Superposition in quantum mechanics means that, until something is observed or measured, it doesn’t have one definite state — instead, it exists in all possible states at once. But once it’s observed, it’s forced to “choose” one state, and that’s the one we see.

Here’s a simplified breakdown:

  • Imagine a particle (like an electron) can be in State A or State B.
  • In superposition, before you look at it, the particle isn’t in A or B — it’s in both A and B at the same time.
  • The moment you measure or observe it, the superposition “collapses,” and it becomes either A or B — but never both anymore.

This is the heart of the famous thought experiment Schrödinger’s cat:

  • The cat in the box is both dead and alive (a superposition) until someone opens the box.
  • Opening the box (observing) collapses the superposition into one outcome.

Further reading:

‘What Is Superposition and Why Is It Important?’, Caltech Science Exchange, available: https://scienceexchange.caltech.edu/topics/quantum-science-explained/quantum-superposition

Author bio:

Scott Edgar is a father of five amazing, adventurous children, he is an attorney and a poet. He has published two collections of poetry (available here) and is the host of the podcast, The Poet (delayed), which is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts here: https://blessed-pine-5317.fireside.fm You can follow Scott on Instagram @poetdelayed.

Read more of Scott’s sciku here.

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Cassiopeia A by Scott Edgar

Fusion bestowed life
‘Til your iron heart wrought death
Your ghost is ablaze

by Scott Edgar

This haiku represents the life cycle of a star from its birth through fusion to its death when fusion no longer offsets the pull of its core that’s turned to iron over its life and finally the supernova, its remnant, that results from the star’s instant collapse (if the star was big enough).

This haiku was inspired by this image that I saw of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant:

A false colour image of Cassiopeia A (Cas A) using observations from both the Hubble and Spitzer telescopes as well as the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Image credit: Krause, O. et. al.

Further reading:

‘The Life Cycles of Stars: How Supernovae are Formed’, NASA Educator’s Corner, available: https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/educators/lessons/xray_spectra/background-lifecycles.html

Author bio:

Scott Edgar is a father of five amazing, adventurous children, he is an attorney and a poet. He has published two collections of poetry (available here) and is the host of the podcast, The Poet (delayed), which is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts here: https://blessed-pine-5317.fireside.fm You can follow Scott on Instagram @poetdelayed.

Read more of Scott’s sciku here.

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The Universe by Scott Edgar

Hubble found your truth:
Expanding faster, faster
Redshift was the key.

by Scott Edgar

Edwin Hubble used redshift (‘a shift in the light a galaxy emits toward the red end of the visible light spectrum’) to measure the velocity of galaxies and it was thereby determined that the universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate.

Further reading:

‘Hubble’s Law’, Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubbles_law

Author bio:

I am a lawyer by trade and poet by passion with a conceptual interest in physics and astronomy. I try to get lost in the deserts of the southwestern United States as often as I can. You can follow Scott on Instagram @poetdelayed.

Read more of Scott’s sciku here.

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Love: Expressed in the General Theory of Relativity by Scott Edgar

Our spacetime is warped
And your celestial body
Sets me in orbit

by Scott Edgar

The scientific basis of my sciku is the General Theory of Relativity. It’s been my experience that falling in love is governed by the same laws: e.g. A distortion of spacetime that draws me to the one I love.

Further reading:

‘General relativity’, Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity

Author bio:

I am a lawyer by trade and poet by passion with a conceptual interest in physics and astronomy. I try to get lost in the deserts of the southwestern United States as often as I can. You can follow Scott on Instagram @poetdelayed.

Read more of Scott’s sciku here.