The (indirect) evidence for dark matter as inferred from the higher-than-predicted speed of galaxy rotations

by Pippa Goldschmidt

The (indirect) evidence for dark matter as inferred
from the higher-than-predicted speed of galaxy rotations
i.m. Vera Rubin

Picture the girl standing
on the side of the highway
at night, and
she’s wearing a skirt
its white fabric sheer and gauzy
shining with reflected light.
Close to her, a wreck of a car
the glass it once relied on
now scattered on the road.

From this jumble of information
you could construct a simple cause and effect —
the girl running alongside the traffic
too damned quick for her own good.
That skirt spinning in the darkness
doing a Monroe in the slipstream.
Nobody wanting to slow down for her
she’s too thin and gawky,
too insubstantial.
Those eyeglasses!

But if you are going to become any good at this,
you should consider other possibilities —
as each driver follows a predictable route
she’s the focus of all their orbits.
Let her be the fixed point in your picture.