Observatory Tanka

Erasures of New York Times, Observatory, Tuesday, May 16

Lonely Cousin

species lived

scientists said last week
cave system
small brain, curved fingers
bred in isolation

Bad [Underrated Sense] Smell
Smell is worse—
dogs, mice, moles, even sharks—
smell tells
if a person works in a coffee shop
or would [not] be a good mate

Baby Louie
90-million-year-old
fossilized dinosaur embryo
giant oviraptosaur
resembled cassowaries
tall as an elephant

Hold It Together
seven Earth-sized planets
orbits packed tightly
almost exactly in resonance
can persist
for very long periods