Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka

In the clear night sky among the stars

that I cannot name, nor the constellations

they form, not the dippers big and small or

the Great Bear or Pegasus, the dog stars

and the dove, the crow and the swan, a heavenly

host of mythological creatures born there aloft

that I cannot see, cannot find, yet … there stands

the hunter, facing his quarry or chasing

the seven sisters, placed there blind to wander

eastward to see again, the only constellation I recognize,

the light of heaven, Orion, his belt of three stars aligned,

Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, bluish and bright

and easy to see, easier to find, and when I die,

leaving behind the pull of the earth and joining

the heavens myself, look for me there, for that is

where I’ll be, where you’ll always find me, the second

star to the right, Mintaka, and straight on till morning,

carried there on a bed of pixie dust, faith and trust:

this mythology I leave for you, to carry you through.