It was strange to us at first: a new configuration.
A desperate re-conditioning; a stroke of dark luck.
But watch in secret, because it's ice and it's oil,
and it's 'temperatures plummet'.

It's one more slickblack treasure; it's all headlines.
Like we should attract industry or attention;
a night's depleted plutonium sun,
for we must attract something.

Good fortune smiles down regardless and salutory.
The moon approves, and holds us in an osseous cradle,
and we are rocked by a bone white man in his cups.
An icy-white appeal: Literal white-knuckle.

And in this all, somewhere buried,
the sky a mere square immeasurable above,
is the keystone of something long-forgotten.
A desperate 40 microns sacrifice, and the end of all that is.
So little now, and outside is rime.

Breath strikes a white feather, and here I think of heaven,
make tracework patterns of posies on summer glass
to plan for the limitless and old age promises.
Arpeggios of light, cascading upwards.

The tracework burns cold where I touch, makes spidercracks in glass,
websilkholes and fingermarks creased with ridges of ice,
a subtlety of havoc conformity, unshakeable.

And thus comes the knell mention—
the revelation of heat-starved glass—
and all that is embodied in a wish for sun-cracked sand.

Shall we, together, die holding hands, as it should be,
lying in place to defy this winter-sun's midnight,
or part like the waves to reveal the ice beyond?
Quick - choose,
before the temperature drops.

A lonely sun - a thousand million bursts of love - looks down,
bolstered through an artificial winter's night
by an industrious encouragement;
shines harder for the occasion: makes an effort.
For its children must,
surely,
enjoy a little sunburn,
if they are so keen to
endure.

About the Piece:

The heart of an atom laid bare; an act of creation filling an expanding universe; an exaltation of planetary masses orbiting a central point. It's a matter of perspective and scale, as rotation and simple geometry combine to produce a spiritual successor to my piece ‘A Clock at the Heart of the Universe’.

Features:

- Variable palettes, centred around a main hue: Some diverge rapidly, others stick tightly to this central value. Monochrome palettes are available as a rare mint.
- Render modes: The background and main layer are rendered simultaneously, so the order in which the rays are produced affects the final output. Some renders produce orderly, predictable output; others take randomness to heart and work busily across the canvas.
- Ray styles: Density, related to the number of rays, affects the radial spokes of the piece. Some renders are sparse and minimalist, others crowd varying sizes onto each line.
- Aspect ratios: Whilst the default 1:1 ratio is common, other aspect ratios, right up to an ultrawide option, are possible.
- Sound: Modern browsers require you to click on the sketch and activate sound by pressing 'm' to hear the soundtrack to this piece.
- Halo style: Circles, or less commonly squares, form this mid-ground detail, itself affected by the colour palette and with the possibility of variable or regular sizing.
- Canvas styles: Halving or quartering is possible, though rare, and an offset may take place, shifting the focus of the piece off centre, but taking into account any vertical or horizontal splits.
- Texturing: Drawn towards the centre of the piece, the main hue is applied as a grainy motif.
- Hidden features: There is a clock at the heart of the universe.