Mythology

by Don Kingfisher Campbell

“To such endless impressions
we poets give ourselves absolutely,
making, in silence, omen of mere event,
until the world reflects the deepest needs of the s
oul.”
–From “Omens” by Louise Gluck

O
Jupiter you are
A small hole of light
In a darkening blue sky

Below
In a pond on Earth
Ducks swim, create little waves
Which glimmer like ribbons

Reflect lamplight
As you and the moon shine
With our sun’s celestial power
(Are you both her beloved flowers)

Only you
Are much farther
Than our orbiting fragment
Born out of a collision billions of years ago

O
Jupiter tonight you are
More than a twinkling dot
Rising in the darkened indigo sky

People walk by
The pond and look
At ducks waddling up
Easy to enjoy every day

I want to tell them
Cast your eyes high
Gaze at the shining speck
That doesn’t seem to move

Yet slowly rises
Like the grand moon
Far away where no
Eyes can see a distant Earth

We’re just a pale
Blue point in that night
Dominated by many moons
And nearby sister Saturn’s rings

O
My Jupiter you are
The overlooked sight
Unseen by most denizens

Mothers and children
Throw bread crumbs at
The dark comical ducks in
The park by the pond’s shore

Don’t think to crane
Even at the gibbous moon
Which provides illumination overwhelmed
By sulfur lamps on poles each evening

The faraway planet
Hasn’t been this close
Since 1963 and not again
So proximate until 2022

By then I might be
Getting ringed once more
Because I am at the park
Waiting for my lovely visitor

Who appears
In my life every day
And I am thankful to the heavens
That our sun comes up each morning

So I can witness
The moon at dusk
And her eyes and smile
Beside me like stars to a planet

Maybe we will
Revisit this location in
A future close as our current
Earthly rotating observation

Around each other
Present every diurnal
Forging twilight sparks
With circling tongues

O
Jupiter this time you are
The most welcome new guide
In my changing evening sky