I’ve been thinking about Alpha Centauri lately: closest star to earth

I’ve been thinking about life, the naked yet an immensely decorated thing which has us searching for meanings here and unto the vast interstellar of space. For things, as wildly material as it may get is never a concern, but the continuation of our species that is at the center.

The universe is predominantly expanding and our demise here, whether it be in the millions of years from now, is imminent. So much for that single thought that keeps me up at night or dream during the delicate day.

The closest star to earth is Alpha Centauri A, which is around 4.3 light-years away from us. Maybe saving our species from extinction would mean traveling to this star and finding a new home in a habitable planet orbiting the star.

Just the thought of it stirs in waves of poetry because all that we ever wrote about may become old-fashioned one day, and the only thing that may fascinate is incredibly far away, locked in the oblivion of space and time.

Holding a telescope on the left hand and casually floating through the enigmatic sky is the new attraction in town because everything that we know of, is now on the path to being challenged. I always find myself staring affectionately at the night skies like it were my lover from the other side. And it never ceases to astonish, our minds that continue to undress in search of something new.

Alpha Centauri A is also the third brightest star in the night sky, transmitting an aura of satisfaction that we may one day reach. It’s as beautiful as life, the magic that glows dreamily across the room of emptiness.

I cannot say because life is already chaotic, and how coincidental is it when I try to compare it to earth which sings along the same verses, perfecting the art so well that it would eventually lead to its fall.

The thought of colonizing another planet and discovering a new dimension to life is impressively striking. One would leave behind tales of trophies and shades of scars that define our everyday breath here. Also leaving behind anything that put us into our social class here on earth.

Maybe Alpha Centauri will offer the next generation harmony as we always envisaged for ours, but never achieved.

I want to stop now but my mind won't let me, and my heart is just a piece of flesh that is merrily thinking about this star. Perhaps to search is to be inspired, by everything that is just a gaze away, unto the dynamics of space.

And who would write when nothing even exists here, or where to go if it's not to the nearest star?

-Yogesh Chandra