Mars

I hear Mars is beautiful tonight in some parts of the world

The trees here where I live obstruct my view of the late summer sky, so I can only imagine.

It’s the only thing I miss from our days living on the plains, where I could look up and say,

“See, there’s Venus or Mars or Jupiter.” Once for a week the three lined up and I

Sat outside with the smell from a neighbor’s wood-burning fireplace my best companion,

That and the off again, on again lightning bugs, playing peekaboo in the bushes.

The webbed lawn chair’s plastic, scratchy against my pajama-clad legs,

A glass of Merlot, sipped slowly, once empty, the sign I should give up the watch

Leaving the celestial trio to their own devices for another night.

A Plot of Earth–My Take on the Daily Prompt

Mercury did not suspect,
Yet Venus knew the score,
Earth was plotting to implode
Mars tried to close the door.

Jupiter was in on it,
He hoped that Earth would blow,
But Saturn was in denial,
And Neptune was too slow

The plot of Earth, it’s sad to note,
Went off without a hitch,
And those of us who ignored her plight
Are not allowed to bitch.

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