A Star for a Wish by Caroline Mallonee

A new winter carol inspired by the Great Conjunction of 2020, when Saturn and Jupiter drew near each other on the winter solstice. Sung here by the Vocalis Chamber Choir, James Burritt, conducting.

TEXT
The longest of nights
The end of December
The solstice of the year

The celestial sphere
Darkens above
Stars start to appear

Six arcminutes apart
Two orbs almost touch
They shine as one

2020, the longest of years,
done, undone.

Two pinpricks of white
In the Southwest
Unite as if fused together

In darkness a beacon
to lead us, an omen of
brighter days ahead

Here on the earth,
Two skywatchers gaze
on the solstice of 2020

They see in the sky
A star for a wish
Bright on the sky’s dome

Six feet between them
They stand apart
Entranced by the silver light

So far
So near
On this winter’s night

Dante wrote of it
Kepler took note of it
William Shakespeare, too, wrote of a
Great Conjunction
to give us hope
For brighter days ahead

For thousands of years
we’ve known where stars
and planets will appear

With calendrical precision
Saturn and Jupiter
draw near

We can rely on stars in the sky
Their measurements have been charted
Physics, astronomy,
Orbits, ellipses,
Figures on which we depend

There is space
For awe
Look up –
For truth lies in the sky.

—Caroline Mallonee