"Those are pearls that were his eyes"

Through island universes unexplored
On charts unblemished by foregoers' tracks,
More lightly than her namesake, Ariel soared.
The nova that was Beta Sycorax,

Unlooked-for, smote us with a furious tide
Of plasma, surging fields, and gamma rays.
The sensors, engine, hull, and we all died
In scarce-felt instants or in racking days.

Still, love, I see, am drawn to, long for you:
The meteor dust that tints your sunrise red
Embodies me. I watch in silence through
The starlight that caresses you abed.