North 33 degrees 42 minutes 29.80 seconds
West 111 degrees 54 minutes 2.81 seconds
meteorites drop
around Cassiopeia
specks of green deep orange
-
on my roof you feel
pockets of heat rising up
from the valley streets
-
a red crescent moon
melts off the edge of the earth
dark quiet humid
-
pin points of star light
hit the back of my retina
hands on a cave wall
-
I love you dad thank
you for teaching me about
the big universe
-
on dark desert buttes
moon shines and oozes over
melts like ivory
-
above arcturus
spica east saturn south mars
in the west the moon
with every heart beat
count the progression on the
horizon moon sets
-
over phoenix land
saturn, spica, moon and mars
moves toward the west
-
moon slides into deep
crimson, cloud strings stretch around-
a snake leaves dead skin
-
the sun is asleep
desert life at night can see
the shadows and heat
-
new moon and no god
two owls soaring silently
crisscross over head
-
east moon
then jupiter
and venus
-
scorpions on the patio
lightning on the radio
magnetic silence
silver alabaster glow
the lightning flashes
-
dark acacia
mesquite, sage and rosemary
stark black ironwood
-
beetle crawls in the
dead leaves palo verde trees
seize early breezes
-
jupiter near moon
low west now mars and saturn
its cosmic billiards
-
a row 5 in tow
clear skies look west jupiter
with moon and spica
-
shuffle down stage left
mars south-east follow saturn
desert life digs down
a wildfire glows smoke
drifts above creosote on
the dark earth mountain
-
a cardinal was
in the middle of the road
red as a clown’s nose
-
jupiter and moon
exit late west horizon
there is nothing else
-
moon behind the clouds
Superstition Mountains east
an agglomeration shadows
-
moon checks in at 3
in the silence of the night
ghost of saguaro
-
towering nimbus
above the clay desert floor
distant rumbling
-
at night hell's angels fly
through veins of blue lightning
(rain dance)
O thunderbird speak over
the fields of cracked mud
rise in the blue sky to
sing your haunting song
breathe in the heat
and spit out the clouds
pregnant with water
let it come
let it come down
let it come down
to the little springs
-
in the mid-night
everything
that isn’t you
knows you’re alive
-
a cool naked universe
spills out like diamonds
on black velvet
-
humans, insects and animals
make music even
wind makes music so
who goes to heaven first?
-
a veil of dust hangs
over the mountains
there is no sound
cloud lightning on
the other side
of the mountain
spark fires in the news
the next day
-
more dust sweeps
the lifeless houses
there is no sound
-
a storm cell
with finger lightning
grows from a shaft
of rain into a giant
mushroom
-
the night connects
a world dream
that everyone
hears at dawn
-
the rays at sunset
slice through a
storm cell soaking
the clouds in blood
-
towering thunderheads
in mother of pearl east
lightning greets the moon
rain coming down
like a muscle of water
-
blood rushed to the back of our brain
when we looked up we made tools
-
coyote yelps across
dark washes as
garage dogs
bark back in anger
-
big storm, big thunder - Ka Booom!
-
moon in libra eclipses
saturn as mars sets
-
full moon tonight
creamy clouds
as dry ice
-
the moon will be there
when we disappear
moon shadows on stucco of
acacia, cottonwood and palo
-
the moon is worshipped in the desert
the sun is worshipped in the forest
-
tusk in the sky
fell off a pachyderm
from India
-
prayer of the faithful
fire on the mountain
crimson crescent moon
-
clouds move in
a gun metal night
-
new moon
snakes slide
across a black road
-
something just bit me
my heart beats on
new moon and rains
clear the air
infinite stars open up
-
moon broken dark monsoon
silky clouds humid halos
-
beneath star vega
small cloud drops virga
-
meteorite west brilliant
long stretch of silver tail
fracturing in three colors
-
90 billion stars
follow me tonight
in the heavens
-
dark blue dusk
crescent moon jupiter
-
in pitch quiet
the high whir
an elf owl
large breath
let go death
enough said
-
4th of July - meh
when its over— it smells
like sulphur; like a fart
-
wind shears up here
washes swell with mud
-
when a bolt of lightning
struck the backyard
it made a sound like
Thor’s hammer
hitting an I-beam
from Bethlehem Steel
-
mars saturn
near moon
-
tens of thousands of wild fires
around the world tonight
-
lizard skin cloud
and moon and mars
shooting star
races airplane
beats it by
a million miles an hour
-
space rock
spark splits
behind silky
clouds
I see 5 an hour
-
praying mantis
strikes dead
moth prey
beneath porch light
-
Cassiopeia
is the same shape as
the scar on my right hand
-
shower of space rock
more than money in the bank
-
meteorites
between tree limbs
rising orion
4 in the morning
-
jupiter w/ orion
sliding up east
-
Some of these meteorites are:
"op!" some of them are "aww!"
-
orion's belt lines up
to eastern butte
-
time stands still
in the speed of light
-
orion and the pleiades
a new moon marks
the last days of August
-
a police helicopter flys over
I know because its a Ford
-
cool wind picks up
moon drops westward
ears fill with acoustic strings
there's a cloud tonight
that looks like a hand
because it has a thumb
-
snap flash
alabaster purple
-
orion rises large
clouds dissipate
infinite stars
deep and brilliant
-
jupiter through
black ironwoods
-
moths use my hair to nest
returning souls of the dead
-
dirt and spattered
rain drops
no down pour
-
waning blue
moon
lifting clouds
moon refracts cloud hues
soft rose purples and blues
-
moon and thunder
rumble in the wind
-
no temperature
no wind
no sound
-
east over the buttes
orion pushes up
two meteorites streak
-
tremendous distant storm
north by northwest
lightning illuminating alabaster
towering cumulus plumes
rumble in mother of pearl
-
orion
scrim of clouds
moon
meteorites tonight east
from the Cassiopeia and
Perseus constellations
-
rooftop waxing moon south
due west follows saturn mars
-
cool quiet night rooftop
airplanes circumnavigate the valley
-
visioning, conjuring
2:40am full moon advent
Perseid meteor shower
-
lunatic moon and
a bowl full of milk
earthquake, waves and war over silk
ebb and flow of sea and sound
cheshire cat that comes around
roof under foot
eternity over head
moonlight bone on stone
wolf spider in shadow.
nothing is so strong
as the summer song
a drink of water at night
a deep breath
acrid air
something is on fire
somewhere
August is when we discover everything for the last time
I sleep in the universe
I wake up on earth
peach dusk low west
venus mercury jupiter
south saturn
mars moon follows
wind and silent storms
wolves were still wolves
when we turned human
pin prick meteorites
like subatomic particles
or electric pulse in the brain
hohokam ghost close
two red tailed hawks in the dark
snake twists across black road
cracking storm
hail falls on flagstone
like static
math is the language
of the universe.
poetry is the universe
of language
dry moon
praying mantis
when you feel wind
when there is no wind
Steve Noettl
©2020
