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How to Navigate Our Universe
"How to Navigate Our Universe" is a collection of 128 astronomy poems, ranging from whimsical to serious — poems about planets, stars, black holes, and astronomers, complete with essential advice such as How to Surprise Saturn, How to Blush Like Betelgeuse, and How to Survive a Black Hole.
- GenresPoetry
157 pages, Paperback
Published September 12, 2023
25 people want to read
About the author
Mary Soon Lee
110 books87 followersMary Soon Lee was born and raised in London, but has lived in Pittsburgh for thirty years. She is a Grand Master of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association, and three-time winner of both the AnLab Readers’ Award and the Rhysling Award. Her latest books are from opposite shores of the poetry ocean: How to Navigate Our Universe containing 128 astronomy poems, and The Sign of the Dragon, a novel-length epic fantasy told in poetry. She hides her online presence with a cryptically named website (marysoonlee.com) and an equally cryptic BlueSky account (@marysoonlee.bsky.social).
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 29, 2024
Once again Mary Soon Lee has created a collection, which hangs together so well and yet is quite broad in its scope. Several sections of unlikely “How To” poems organized by distance from Earth or by general subject matter.
Lee shows an incredible breadth of knowledge both about celestial bodies and space and scientists and astronauts. There are also a few poems of a more personal nature toward the back.
This collection has been nominated for the 2024 Elgin Award given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association.
I enjoyed this collection mostly a few poems at a time over my morning coffee, reading it in a rush, though, while on a trip of just a few days to Ireland.
Highly recommended!
Lee shows an incredible breadth of knowledge both about celestial bodies and space and scientists and astronauts. There are also a few poems of a more personal nature toward the back.
This collection has been nominated for the 2024 Elgin Award given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association.
I enjoyed this collection mostly a few poems at a time over my morning coffee, reading it in a rush, though, while on a trip of just a few days to Ireland.
Highly recommended!
November 16, 2023
I was happy to supply a blurb for this wonderful book! "With eloquent celestial-themed verse, Mary Soon Lee educates, delights, and surprises."
October 4, 2023
I loved some poems more than others, but on the whole, this is a breathtaking book of star-filled poems.
January 8, 2024
This collection is amusing, imaginative, and frequently quite touching. I annoyed everyone around me by reading bits of it to them, repeatedly. They liked the samples, many bought the book, but they stopped taking my phone calls and are now always out when I send in my calling card.
This is a "deliberate" collection, in that the poet clearly wrote a number of similar poems with the intent that they be published together at some point. MSL is good at that (see ELEMENTAL HAIKU and THE SIGN OF THE DRAGON). Here the titles of all the poems in the first four sections begin with "How to" and the fifth section is other related, and less regimented, pieces. Those four sections are: Our Backyard: The Solar System, Our Neighborhood: The Milky Way, Other and Further, and Pioneers. The loose collection is called Space Dust.
A repeated mood in these pieces is what SF writers call "the sense of awe" that astronomy can bring on. I admired the straightforward reminders of the stunning facts of our Universe, mixed in with wit and personal touches. As an example of her method, I quote the last three stanzas of the opening poem, "How to Paint Mercury":
Do not erase his scars,
the craters of a survivor.
Remembering his history,
be patient with his moods.
Tell him he's closest
to the Sun's heart.
I can particularly recommend:
"How to Tidy the Asteroids"
"How to Appoint the North Star" (which is cute, but also accurate)
"How to Glimpse the Icarus Star"
"How to Build a Ladder"
"How to Fathom a Light-Year"
"How to Merit a Nobel Prize" (an homage to Jocelyn Bell Burnell)
"How to Dishonor Hawking" ("as if truth were not enough:/ that he tried to uncover/ how the universe works.")
"Copernicus's Cat"
My absolute favorites (and that's a tough choice in this collection) were "How to Help Hubble" and the closing poem: "Holding You" (which just typing the title of moistens my eyes).
Two stanzas I can't resist quoting:
1. the first stanza of "How to Question Asteroid 16 Psyche"
Do not ask who did this to her,
who shattered her to her core.
2. the last stanza of "How to Reclaim Levity"
Praise every frivolous foolishness
that holds us up when we are down.
Need I say it? Highly recommended.
This is a "deliberate" collection, in that the poet clearly wrote a number of similar poems with the intent that they be published together at some point. MSL is good at that (see ELEMENTAL HAIKU and THE SIGN OF THE DRAGON). Here the titles of all the poems in the first four sections begin with "How to" and the fifth section is other related, and less regimented, pieces. Those four sections are: Our Backyard: The Solar System, Our Neighborhood: The Milky Way, Other and Further, and Pioneers. The loose collection is called Space Dust.
A repeated mood in these pieces is what SF writers call "the sense of awe" that astronomy can bring on. I admired the straightforward reminders of the stunning facts of our Universe, mixed in with wit and personal touches. As an example of her method, I quote the last three stanzas of the opening poem, "How to Paint Mercury":
Do not erase his scars,
the craters of a survivor.
Remembering his history,
be patient with his moods.
Tell him he's closest
to the Sun's heart.
I can particularly recommend:
"How to Tidy the Asteroids"
"How to Appoint the North Star" (which is cute, but also accurate)
"How to Glimpse the Icarus Star"
"How to Build a Ladder"
"How to Fathom a Light-Year"
"How to Merit a Nobel Prize" (an homage to Jocelyn Bell Burnell)
"How to Dishonor Hawking" ("as if truth were not enough:/ that he tried to uncover/ how the universe works.")
"Copernicus's Cat"
My absolute favorites (and that's a tough choice in this collection) were "How to Help Hubble" and the closing poem: "Holding You" (which just typing the title of moistens my eyes).
Two stanzas I can't resist quoting:
1. the first stanza of "How to Question Asteroid 16 Psyche"
Do not ask who did this to her,
who shattered her to her core.
2. the last stanza of "How to Reclaim Levity"
Praise every frivolous foolishness
that holds us up when we are down.
Need I say it? Highly recommended.
April 29, 2024
I found poems here that confused me. Poems that dazzled me. Poems that made me laugh, poems I HAD to show some non-poetry people and poems I want to slip under my under my pillow so they will never leave me. I didn't love all of it, but I am glad I purchased this book and I want to read more of Lee's work.
September 29, 2023
This book is charm and grace, pleasure and planetary feast. An astronomical poetry book for those who love outer and inner space. Pittsburgh author Mary Soon Lee is a world-renown lyric wordsmith. The poems sport a direct message about the universe and then pull out of the reader a deeper connection, one that is universally human. How to Navigate Our Universe is a guide for living, as well as a festival celebrating astronomy.
The poem “How to Hide the Milky Way” begins with a list of straightforward ways a person might not see our Milky Way Galaxy, for instance, it’s lost in the Sun’s glare—just one bullet point on a list—but simultaneously reminding people that the stars are always above you.
Each poem is a treasure. Do you have a favorite planet, star, constellation? It's in there! The poem topics span the entire universe, no small feat for a 145-page book. Reading is an experience, both magical and mysterious, and filled with thoughtful connections that you can’t unsee once they are shown to you through gentle phrases.
How to Navigate Our Universe makes a great gift!
The poem “How to Hide the Milky Way” begins with a list of straightforward ways a person might not see our Milky Way Galaxy, for instance, it’s lost in the Sun’s glare—just one bullet point on a list—but simultaneously reminding people that the stars are always above you.
Each poem is a treasure. Do you have a favorite planet, star, constellation? It's in there! The poem topics span the entire universe, no small feat for a 145-page book. Reading is an experience, both magical and mysterious, and filled with thoughtful connections that you can’t unsee once they are shown to you through gentle phrases.
How to Navigate Our Universe makes a great gift!
March 23, 2024
As a very long time reader of science fiction and fantasy, I’ve stumbled across Mary Soon Lee’s work in various magazines over the years. Her poems always resonated, whether it was the playful voice or the deep understanding of science, I found them delightful and satisfying. She is a consummate craftsman when it comes to language.
The theme of “How to…” runs throughout, in the first section, how to in our solar system. “How to Circumnavigate Mars,” was a standout for me. The last two lines filled with hope and a sort of melancholy:
Sleep on the bare deck
beneath the Milky Way.
No compass, no timetable.
End where you began. Home.
Page 31, “How to Bless the Interstellar Medium,” with verses of repeating elements and compounds. It has a richness and is a kind of prayer.
The collection is divided into five parts, expanding out from earth, after all, it is about navigating the universe.
This book demands slow reading, the kind where you roll the words around on your tongue, stare at the ceiling for a long while, sip your tea or coffee and become lost in the wonder of such beauty.
The theme of “How to…” runs throughout, in the first section, how to in our solar system. “How to Circumnavigate Mars,” was a standout for me. The last two lines filled with hope and a sort of melancholy:
Sleep on the bare deck
beneath the Milky Way.
No compass, no timetable.
End where you began. Home.
Page 31, “How to Bless the Interstellar Medium,” with verses of repeating elements and compounds. It has a richness and is a kind of prayer.
The collection is divided into five parts, expanding out from earth, after all, it is about navigating the universe.
This book demands slow reading, the kind where you roll the words around on your tongue, stare at the ceiling for a long while, sip your tea or coffee and become lost in the wonder of such beauty.
September 28, 2023
Combining deep thought with deep feeling, this generously sized collection of speculative verse celebrates space science and all those who have made it possible. Mary Soon Lee has the knack of making complex astronomical ideas not only accessible, but lyrical. History enthusiasts will also find many tributes to pioneers and discoverers -- a notable number of them female -- past and present.
Presented in mostly short, tightly constructed stanzas, these poems have a formal feel while retaining a touch of lightness. Lee is passionate about her topics, and tireless in her ability to ring changes on them. Lucid but never shallow, entertaining but intellectually demanding (I found myself turning to Wikipedia frequently during my reading!) , this collection is highly recommended for all spec poetry lovers -- and hard science folks as well.
Presented in mostly short, tightly constructed stanzas, these poems have a formal feel while retaining a touch of lightness. Lee is passionate about her topics, and tireless in her ability to ring changes on them. Lucid but never shallow, entertaining but intellectually demanding (I found myself turning to Wikipedia frequently during my reading!) , this collection is highly recommended for all spec poetry lovers -- and hard science folks as well.
March 11, 2024
A pleasure to read.
January 16, 2025
An utterly charming mix of fact (scientific, historical and mathematical) and masterful poetry-making.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews