Planetary Alignments: a Poem

Jupiter, Saturn,

Venus, Mars:

Just hanging out

down by the moon.

Jupiter's jealous

of Saturn's face:

"I'll teach that show-off--

a ring's not hard to spin!"

Just hanging out,

down by the moon...

It's pale midnight--

the shadowy stars have fled

from the face of the moon:

Her full-bright power

intimidates those stars,

But the planets know

it's only a trick,

So they all hang out,

down by the moon.

Originally written in July of 1988, and revised a little in May of 2010, this poem came about because of a particular planetary alignment on that night; a night when it was exceptionally clear to boot; a rarity at that time of year in Pacifica, CA, where I lived at the time.