Young Writers Society

A - a competitive, outgoing, ambitious, impatient and/or aggressive personality type, and the best grade you can receive

The 8th ring of Saturn is large and bright
which is probably why we've paid so much attention to it.
A itself is a reflection of the way the galaxy ripples,
and plays gracious host to a number of tenants.

1:
There are thousands of tiny moonlets
like lice
living in the clutches of A.
Only one of them is named.
Bleriot. After the pilot
and possessor of a fantastic
moustache.
The rest of the thousand moonlets
remain nameless mysteries.

2:
The Encke gap is the emptiness behind A's eyes.
325 kilometers-wide, its edges are wavy
in the wake of Pan, a moon.
It's knotted with ringlets
and was named after a man who noticed
that A wasn't the perfectly bright ring
everyone seemed to think it was.

3:
The Keeler Gap is a crack in the confidence of A.
42 kilometers wide, its edges are wavy
in the wake of Daphnis, a moon.
It was discovered by a spacecraft
but was named after the man who discovered
the Encke gap, and was nice enough
to attribute it to someone else.

2.5
Pan, of course, is a god of nature
whose name means "to pasture,"
but other sources claim it means "shepherd."
He guided Daphnis is the art of pipes.
With many other stories,
of panic and love and music,
we still proclaim,
"The great Pan is dead!"
The only god who ever died.

3.5
Daphnis, of course, is the creator of pastoral poetry
whose name means "bay laurel,"
but other sources claim it means "blinded for his infidelity."
Pan taught him in the art of pipes.
With many other stories,
of poetry and love and betrayal,
he pledged his love falsely
and lost his sight, or was petrified,
and like all mortals, he died.

And so we see that A,
though big and bright
holds darkness.
But within these Gaps
are stripes and moons
of admiration.