Happy 2008

January 1, 2008

OCCUPANT

Sleepless night it's 4:00 AM
Check the window
Ocean black or lit?
A catch in my breath, a double take
The brightest light I've ever caught
in a night sky.
Will it move laterally
or warp-speed escape?
The windy aura moves
in overlapping discs.
Is this a star, which star is that?

Another night up at 3:00
My star is still
Hanging there and speaking
But not twinkling.
A planet.
One of the big ones.
There's just the two of us
The puny stars, the waving coconut palms
Even the ocean sound
Just a blur around our directness.

In the cyber universe
I find the coordinates
Inverting the domes
With a click.
It's Jupiter
Welcoming me from the north to this southern cradled sky.
One more surprise
Like the bad road maintenance
Or the unstressed locals
Verifying in these predawns
That I am home.

- Sandy