There of a sudden,
and now every night.
Brighter, nearer,
single in its space of sky,
stealing the show from the usual crew—
Jupiter, Venus, the Dog Star, the Bear –
even from a moon in full.
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A bloodshot, raging eye it is,
a thing that leers just above the trees,
a fire that mocks our tropic calm—
the ponds and pools,
the tidy homes,
the sheltering palms.
‍

All of it,
all of us,
under that murderous stare.

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                                                            Abbott Ikeler