astrology
Gemini
My brother’s been looking at the stars. That’s
a UFO, he declares. He’s eighteen
to my nine. I believe: He’s bigger
than I am and closer to the truth. He
goes inside to tell the rest of the clan.
I hear him through the kitchen door, back in
the living room. Our parents and [...]
The End of Childhood
She wakens to a hand
rocking her shoulder,
a muffled word, slips
into folds of clothes
and follows.
She feels the dead space
under the sky, and the layer
of air lying close to the earth,
a blanket of musk
left from summer flowers.
Between her hands
she finds her head, its
heavy, leaden weight
she has to cradle
every hour to stay
conscious of the field,
the [...]
Cosmology
The sky pulls you in.
You stand on tiptoe like a child.
Arranged like birthstone earrings
on a card, they’re tarnished.
Sirius the dog, Medusa writhing
in her headdress of snakes, Orion
chasing the flock of doves
that later changed to sisters.
These strange stories kept you from sleep.
The bedside glass remains a collection of sand.
The same electron
masquerades as others, speeding [...]
Hevelius
Sits with a long, thin tube
on an open roof. A wooden balcony
keeps him from falling off the roof.
Good work Hevelius,
you bear of a man, you lecher.
The long tube
supported by ropes and pulleys
aims at the moon. Mountains! Seas! Comet hair!
Hevelius stops observing and sketches the stars
as seen from the outside, looking in–
the constellated [...]
Occultations
What of the secret,
esoteric meanings
behind my commonplace,
lingering doubts.
What if I wanted
to hide like a child,
in petals that pink or blue
like litmus papers.
To become hidden from view–
[...]
The Astronomer
There was the scent of clay
on his shoes,
the newspaper rolled up
to kill bees, mercury drops
he played with in the thirties.
Once he told us
of a star named Capella
flickering blue, red, white
like the country he adopted
but never loved.
I don’t know which is worse,
the fact that the moon
is leaving the earth,
or this dirt tracked
into the foyer, left
by his [...]
From Mary to Eve
Hera, they worshipped you.
Built marble temples in your name,
bowed before you, mother-
goddess, birther, life giver.
From you, the mystery of creation
brought into light, emergence of plump
fresh humans from your silky tunnel,
rose on your sweet warm milk.
You watched them as they slept.
Standing guard with your staff,
a bird on each shoulder. Your gown
cascaded, shuddering
in twilight’s zephyr.
Until they [...]
Heaven’s Potter
In earth, I glaze a moon,
Pelted with meteorites,
Crazed with craters,
And bubbling with lava
From a core that lives.
Gold foil on black raku,
Stars in a midnight sky,
Distant hope a stray ray
Will find me on its way
To the Mars or Saturn.
I would swim in the void
Beneath this vault so round;
Tickle manly Orion’s beard
Causing him to laugh a hearty [...]
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