February 18: Starry night

Certain revelations—

old moon in the new moon’s arms

and all those stars

November 11: Queen of the Night

Streetlight’s out.

Surprised at the front door

by Cassiopeia.

October 1: Skunks

fall constellations

in the backyard

holes dug by skunks

September 15: Night sky

Rumors of northern lights

draw us out

under the Milky Way.

 

March 7: Heaven

Perfect night's end--

chocolate cake and coffee,

sky full of stars.

Posted with Blogsy

December 25: Starry night

Driving home from "Star Wars"--

Mount Battie star shining bright

from miles away.

Posted with Blogsy

August 8: River of Heaven

Night of falling stars--

how sad the Milky Way

still separates the lovers.

 

Although a month late by traditional reckoning, last night while we were in the backyard watching for falling stars from the Perseid meteor shower, I was thinking about Tanabata. This Japanese festival (also celebrated for centuries in China and Korea) celebrates the one night each year that two lovers, normally kept apart by the Milky Way, are allowed to meet. The two lovers--a weaver and a cowherd--are symbolized by the two bright stars Altair and Vega, visible last night directly over our house on either side of the Milky Way.

 

In this drought

the River of Heaven's low enough

for lovers to cross.

 

Posted with Blogsy

April 16: Spring night

At the end of a long drive:

chorus of peepers,

stars bright as flowers.

Posted with Blogsy

October 17: Pleiades

Driving home tonight

toward the hazy Pleiades,

deer watching roadside.

Posted with Blogsy

September 21: Morning Star

bright goddess Venus

Orion bows before her

my faith is renewed

 

Posted with Blogsy

September 19: Night bells

Buoy bell ringing

in the heavenly temple

of ocean and stars.

 

Posted with Blogsy

September 11: Night light

This is a small town, but even here, living as we do across from a street light, we rarely get to fully appreciate the night sky in all its starry glory. So after dinner with friends who live on a farm out in the country, it was such a thrill to look up on the way to the car and enjoy such a wide, clear view of the night's stars.

 

Night sky above a dirt road--

we pick out Polaris,

now it all makes sense.

Posted with Blogsy

December 30: Nocturne

How bright the one star

visible before dawn

out the bathroom window.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

December 21: Starry night

Winter Solstice--

Orion on the horizon;

many candles shine too.

Posted with Blogsy

October 17: Schoodic

Arrived in the dark

we hear the sea's dark pulse

glory in all the stars

March 6: Starry starry night

After a day spent
huddled inside, I step out
under all those stars!

February 7: Big Dipper

Driving home from an evening meeting tonight, the Big Dipper rose above the road, standing on the end of its handle.

Big Dipper tipped up--
the whole night sky
spilling out over the fields.

February 1: Red stars

Last night as I walked to the corner market, the night sky was crystal clear, and I could actually stop and enjoy the spectacle of stars without instantly freezing solid. Directly overhead, the planet Jupiter shone bright, poised above Aldebaran, a red giant star in the V-shaped constellation Taurus. Below Aldebaran, the red giant Betelgeuse hung on the right shoulder (our left) of the constellation Orion the Hunter. Amazing to think that the largest planet in our solar system (which is also red), and these two red giants flaming thousands of times larger than our own little yellow sun, are just tiny pinpricks from our vantage point here on Earth. We comprehend so little of what's around us in the universe.

Starry winter sky.
I made a big red wish
on Aldebaran.

January 24: Another cold night

The temperature atop Mt. Washington yesterday, with wind chill, was -85 degrees. While my day began at a balmy -2, it only improved to 9 degrees by day's end. In the car headlights as I pulled into my driveway, I could see the rhododendron's leaves curled up in tight rolls against the cold, frozen fingers of green. And during those brief seconds as I ran between car and house, I could only pick out a couple of stars, as if they too were seeking refuge on this frigid night.

Even the waxing moon
shrinks from this cold
behind a veil of frost.

December 13: Stars again

Late last night I was out star-gazing before going to bed. I was thinking of that as I scraped the delicately needled stars of frost off my windshield early today. Stars at night, stars first thing in the morning. And driving to an early meeting, one big star (the sun) rising brightly over Camden Harbor, casting its rays over the bay and the awakening town...

Constellations of frost
recall late-night college conversations
about fractals, nature's patterns.