He woke up after 2:00 a.m.
in a rented room & lookedout a window & saw one bright
star in a dark sky. It hung
just above isolated
city lights. He guessed
the glinting diamond-like
shining came from Venus.
It took more time than he
thought for him to break
his gaze. Looking at the light
made him feel better. Why
not keep looking, then?--
that was the logic,
which seemed in his life
to prevail in these times
of murky, poisoned skies
hanging low over human
politics, human time.
hans ostrom 2023
