Consulting the Stars with Mark Hennessy

And then there are those
wide-open October nights
out there on the high seas
of the lower Midwest,

and nothing but stars     stars      stars.

And maybe you've wandered
away from the fire with a friend or two
and a bottle of some not dissimilar
distillation of heat and radiance (to keep
the Universal Engine turning over, of course),

and Time, that supremely indifferent
retriever and reducer of all things
to their least divisible units
seems to have momentarily halted
in the tracks of its ceaseless stalking
of what we so self-centrically
imagine to be its sweetest, juiciest prey.

And a Greek chorus of coyotes
is commenting on the day's events
all the way from the next county over.

And a truck out beyond

the horizon's line of
ever-diminishing returns
blows a long, sorrowful solo
just for us (or anybody else
who may be listening).

And our phones and clocks
(those little sycophantic servants,
advisers and grand co-conspirators,
as well, no doubt) have been given
their first night off
in who knows how long.

So, if you want to speak to someone,
present company should more than do.

And if, for some reason,
you find you need to know
the Time's current whereabouts...

well, you'll have to consult the stars.