Venus

Venus

For two days
on chilly mornings I
saw this

       *

       O

Above me,

off to my east

the moon

capped by Venus

bright and terrifying

and

lovely,

she.

She crushes,

she is named

named for love and

she swelters,

is foreboding

she

is a mystery

is

mountains and valleys

and molten steel

shrouded.

She

is inhospitable,

she hides behind a cloak,

a jacket.

She hovers

north of the moon

with Mars,

a barely red speck,

and Saturn

in the early morning sky.

Tommorow

I will sneak my telescope out

in the frigid morning air

I will

speak again to Venus

but she

she will not answer

she

is silent.

Mark Wilson