some nights i wake up, startled by the stars
orion overhead pours light onto my bed
(spilled red and glowing betelgeuse?)
and through my windowframe
the smoky smell of sirius seeps in
while jupiter with jeweled moons
whirls wide and unrelenting in the ink
and pleiades and hyades land
alighting on my windowsill
they love and lap away my bodyheat
and now our feathers intertwine
my skin both warmed and wintered by their touch
i briefly fear i'll never find the ferry back to sleep
beneath the stargaze of these watchers,
swirling and whirling above.
