Goodbye to Orion

Goodbye to Orion of the winter sky

following his path through the seasons,

and hello to the springtime stars returning,

Virgo, Leo, Boöte, and the Great Bear.

 

Sirius’ bright dog star, too, faithfully

following Orion westward, heralding warmer

weather and the spring triangle from the east,

Arcturus of Boötes’ herdsman, an old red giant;

Regulus of the lion’s heart; and the Virgin’s

Spica, lone bluish-white star, her ear of grain

signifying fertility and the spring-time harvest,

this virgin goddess of justice, Dikê, Zeus’ daughter,

enemy of falsehood, protectress of justice wisely

administered, by her own ideals leaving behind earth

and flying to the heavens, running away, escaping.

 

Leo, too, in Regulus’ realm, regal, a prince, a little

king and crouching lion, his mighty roar heard

to the heavens, his fur impenetrable, defeat impossible,

but by Hercules, placed here in the spring-time sky

as guardian, reminding us of the cosmos’ wonder and beauty,

this King of the beasts, conquered, honored.

 

The Spring triangle completed by the Herdsman’s

Arcturus, point of Boötes’ kite, Arcas, Zeus’ ill-born son,

secreted away, king raised and betrayed, placed

in the heaven’s protection, he and his mother,

Zeus’ lover, the Nymph Callisto, swearing chastity,

a young maiden falling in love, seduced, taken to bed,

and she now the Great Bear, Ursa Major, cast there,

sheltered, both son and mother, safe from Hera, violently

jealous and seeking revenge, they unharmed in the spring

nights’ darkness, eternally paired, roaming forever;

 

in spring, now wandering the night sky above, safely watching us,

Virgo, Leo, Boöte, and the Great Bear, while below, the end

of winter and new life blossoming, growth and renewal.