Stonewall Riots

Before that day in June they lived in fear.
The State Department, FBI would track,
A law-abiding man for being queer,
Without concern they one day might fight back.

New York: a midnight raid at Stonewall Inn.
Outside: too proud to slink, the crowd egged on.
Instead of going home, revolt begin.
Their chants and kick lines faced police baton.

From Greenwich Village, news of outrage spread.
Inspired union cross the country form.
No longer secret groups, their shame was shed.
A nation's culture, all pursued reform.

Parades today, from riots then, remain,
As equal rights for all we still campaign.

White Dwarf

A shock! Our stellar knowledge is undone?
A star, while dim, was white. Both small and hot?
A contradiction: mass much like our Sun,
All crammed into the size of Earth, a dot.

When fuel is spent, the outer shell will sprawl.
The core of carbon and atomic eight,
Becomes a stable dwarf if mass is small;
A supernova burst if mass is great.

With fusion stopped, it won't produce compounds.
The spectrum of their light assessed informs,
The lighter gasses of the star surrounds.
While slowly cooling, cubic crystal forms.

Forever darker: black the final stage.
None now exist: too young the proton's age.