The Cosmos

She freefell into a thousand rosy sunsets
stretched over every beach her
bare feet had ever trod upon
and straight into a fit of stargazing.

Is that a planet?
No, it’s a billionaire’s train of satellites
circling the earth like so many
fast-paced marching ants.

When she was a child,
her Papa told her to keep her chin up,
but she’s found that harder lately
She’s missing him and wondering

Why was she so far away for so long?
Another trip around the sun
Feliz Cumple, and all the rest:
20 bucks in a Hallmark envelope

The memories of waiting for
dusk to turn dark, then darker
A camp chair, a lemonade,
a lager for him and two lenses

Refracting the double star in Orion,
Saturn’s rings, the man in the moon
As Cassiopeia lords over the sky,
the bear, the swan, the lion

The Cosmos

She is a Cancer,
the crab scuttles highest in the spring
Loyal, protective, sensitive, moody
But the city lights blot out the light

Two trillion galaxies,
solar systems far away
New moons revolving around
all the lives she’ll never live

Millions of objects orbit the Earth
Space junk falls through the atmosphere
Make a wish on flotsam and jetsam:
A manmade shooting star