by Robert Hilles
For Rain
We sit outside at sunset
Face west
The technical college across from us
And to our left facing south
Is an elementary school
And to the north the residence
For the technical school
A Vespa noisily passes
On the narrow lane out front
You lay out this poem
Directing the timing of
Each item in it
Both your hands rest
On my legs
And there is no breeze
A heavy heat drops over us
I try to name the solo planet
In the sky only learn later
That it is Mercury
I am drawn to that
Part of the sky where
Mercury rises
And feel the weight
Of your hand
On my leg
A pleasurable weight
A good weight
And you say there are reasons
Why there are so many stars
Why the earth spins and
Doesn’t vibrate or stand still
I want to hear those reasons
But you don’t go on
And I realize later
It’s enough that there
Are reasons
Just as there are reasons
For how love
Gets left out of poems
How an image like
Mercury at sunset
Indicates how we endure
Each night
Before Christmas
Mercury is visible
And the night sky
Has a noticeable incline
As time does
The way up and
The way out
Always at an angle
Only visible at nightfall
— from Juniper Volume 2, Issue 1