An Afterglow Candidate
“At 03:34:30 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and located GRB [gamma ray burst] 060218. . . . Swift slewed immediately to the burst. . . . There is an indication of an afterglow candidate. . . .” Think of those days of earthly incarnation as a fixed point in human history but also a cosmic epiphany, like a burst of gamma radiation. Picture an ancient nova in the night, violent illumination, and long after, a charge like a snowflake whisping the sensor of an orbital gamma satellite. That was how it hit me, but when I swung to look for an afterglow candidate, there was none. Much too faint for my design was love’s latent lumen lit among devoted souls who come to kneel and wait for a candidate made of bread and wine.
--R.S. Mitchell
R.S. Mitchell is a writer and editor based in Crozet, Virginia, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. He blogs at foolfathomfive.blogspot.com.
