Pluto reborn
(Concluding poem of The Pluto Trilogy)
Finally a definitive chapter
Is cast in Pluto’s life
The former Planet
Of the Family of Nine
Is now a Number
Onetwothreefour ding dong ding
Ousted from the pantheon
Pluto’s now a rebel hipster
With drooping sideburns
And forlorn looks
Asteroid Number 134340
Added to the catalogue
Of numbered objects assigned
“Just for tables” says IAU
The Holy Cow that rules
Over celestial bodies
Another rock larger than Pluto
Earlier called Xena
After the idiot box’s
Ice maiden Warrior Princess
Has also been rechristened
She is Eris now
Named after the Greek
Goddess of Discord
Call it the sublimation
Of planetary egos
Or the games men play
When they are not fornicating
"Now Pluto is not alone anymore
It has Eris" moos The Holy Cow
Small consolation
For the dwarf planet
Maybe skies will witness
Some bang-bang now
17 September 2006
