Starless


We are left with aging stars, some burning quickly, some red dwarfs

twinkle, twinkle little star

limping on for a trillion years our sun a mere five billion years

star light, star bright

before it explodes as a supernova will there be life after stars?

after the last star?

starry eyed

as the starless universe expands will we feel desolate in the dense darkness

when I wish upon a star

Cimmerian souls with phantom limbs aching

starlover, starloser.


                               Starbucks

Yesterday at Starbucks

Lara of silver studs and

Pointed hair made my

Usual latte at the usual time

                  seven am

Before work spreads

Slowly through the day

Nibbling away at

                  minutes and hours

Low fat milk, decaf coffee

My son calls it an illusion

A waste of money

Not the real thing

A minor cyst, no problem

Just double check

With a sonogram

So simple

Today I hear hello I am

Doctor Kovska

                  margins irregular

Each word equally weighted

In icy sentences

                  grown seven millimeters

Doctor K.  consulting a chart

Clearing his throat

                  Cancer

Numbing words that

Tilt the world

                  seventy-five

                  percent chance                  

On its chilled axis

Don’t you get this

                  kidney removal

Is the man I love?

He doesn’t look up

                  CT Scan to see

The cyst in slices

So cold in here

My heart is shaking as we

Double downward to

An arctic world.

Starbucks at ten. Lara

Greets me with a

                  crimson grin

Fire streaked hair aglow

I ask for regular coffee

                  extra cream

Nothing as usual

Don’t you get it?

This is the real thing.