Introspection via selfie isn't new (no caption except circa 1915). / Library of Congress

The eyes had it this month, including some entertaining data visualizations, like the asteroid forecast, which topically complements the lunar halo that appeared in the skies above Chile. But the pictures of cosmic dust flecks beat both for sheer beauty.  

Back on Earth, a monkey and photographer continued their legal duel while I found myself engrossed with the stunning, immersive art on the inside of a balloon. If you can't swing the plane ticket to São Paulo but still crave some ink, check one of the latest Pulitzer Prize winners: a nonfiction comic strip that illuminates the lives of Syrian refugees. 

I read several other stories of people moving by force instead of choice, but one narrative resonated with me, and one line in particular. 

"Rosa realized that she knew the church. It was the small stone one with the nice garden where she always turned right on her sales route."

Spare some time next weekend to settle in with the story. 

The geopolitical ramifications of modern human migrations look invisible from Mars. I kept focusing my thoughts on the civic standards nearby, here in the U.S. One of the most crucial activities the First Amendment protects is not the watchdog role of a free press but rather the general capacity to convene people and ideas. 

Democracy still means "some assembly required," as I was reminded. 

America's early leaders wove aspirations for equality into the country's foundations. Yet by that admission -- a striving -- we constantly and necessarily fall short. That's why a plurality of voices and experiences keep any republic robust and healthy. I don't agree with everything here, and that's an excellent place to exist.

Another key to federal fitness: trees. A journalist created Arbor Day, a minor deity among festive American observances. He interpreted trees as the most democratic features of the landscape. A standard holiday, he said, "reposes on the past, while Arbor Day proposes for the future.”

See if you can find the trees in this National Poetry Month tribute. The best photography and illustrations both tell their own stories and enhance a writer's words. Soak in some portraits of poetic creators alongside the poems that served to inspire.