Majestic Island Universe

I wonder how it’s going over there,
However many periodic turns
Of whatever pulse measures local time
Have passed since their light left to arrive here

Tonight, last night, tomorrow night, faint glows
Among our own local hubbub. What gives,
These days, in that majestic universe
Not much more to us than pretty pictures,

Numbers, and testable hypotheses?
We ask the questions important to us—
Are there lives there? Are they smarter than us?
Let’s assume so. I wonder what they’re like.

Mostly, though, I wonder, do they suffer?
Eat each other? Please, tell me some life’s nice.