Our poise serene
Our posture upright
Our feet firmly planted
On the shoreline of Eden Pond
The tide lapping
The night ebbing
Embers of dawn crackling on the horizon
Kindling, ready to flame the sky with light
The orb of the full moon dissolving
Like steam dispersing
From a round silver mirror
Mars, russet red, blazing
Venus, alabaster white, gleaming
All around us restive motion
Movements of Nocturna:
The rummaging of raccoons among the
Bittersweet vines, skunks, near
The holly hedge, sidle, retreating
To the hollow of a felled maple tree
From a dark perch, unseen,
The hoot of an owl, its last utterance of the night,
As night fades, a red fox scampers
Seeking seclusion in the underbrush
Forsaking day, the creatures of the night
Stargazers , like you and I
If this place was Atlantis, Machu Picchu, Stonehenge
There would be a gathering
Yet, this night we are alone
Estranged from city lights
Keeping vigil
To view the stars undimmed
Others sleep soundly unaware
We talk about science, astronomy, legends and myths,
Falling stars, once supposed,
By Native America Tribes on the Great Plains
Children of The Moon leaving home
To find their own place in the heavens
Honored by Celtic Druids :
Souls reborn from the other world
Returning to Earth
Hallowed star-rain
Venerated in Japanese Shinto shrines
The Black Stone of Islam, the Kaaba of Mecca,
A fallen star – a site of faith and pilgrimage
A sign of God’s pleasure
Bestowed to Abraham then passed unto his son, Ishmael,
A meteor was appointed as the ophmolas
At the Temple of Apollo in Delphi,
A place where momentous oracles were foretold
I n the legends of King Arthur,
Excalibur forged from metal, heaven-sent,
The Star of the Christ Child, astronomers infer,
A comet guiding the Magi to Bethlehem
New stars presage the coming of kings
Truth revealed in ancient skies
The shooting stars configured in curvilinear patterns,
Zoomorphic designs: dragon, wyvern, chimera, griffin
Suspended in the firmament, did they inspire?
The spirals and lingams incised on stone
Four thousands years ago
In the passage graves of Newgrange, Ireland
Did they serve as template to?
The hieroglyphics of Egypt, the sigils of Viking runes
We ponder vistas, ephemerally iridescent,
Sudden bursts of teal-blue light that
Quickly sputter to dark
Talk about the origins of the universe
How science merges with myth
Falling stars remnants of the Big Bang
The universe is still expanding
The stardust of creation still dispersing,
We ponder the carbon in our chemistry
Gazing at the sky
We share a moment you and I
These hours just before dawn