Those unlikely lovers met again
in a western tract of space,
only to begin
their slow goodbye;

the god of thunder
with his ugly red scar,
and the fabled goddess of love,
sabotaged again by retrograde motion-

hands sliding tenderly apart,
three degrees, three point one,
then four, then six, then eight, then..
fingertips touching ‘til the last.

I watch from earth,
measuring degrees
with my fist;
tonight there are ten.

I imagine how badly he will miss her
when she is around the sun,
consider how she might be tormented
by the meeting and parting

and meeting and parting
and, and, and..
then I wonder
if they think,

what are thirteen months
and a few astronomical units
between planets?




Copyright © 2012 by Hugh Lemma- All rights reserved

This is a beautiful tribute to jupiter and venus, and to our imaginings of them.

I was especially taken with

I watch from earth,
measuring degrees
with my fist;

Edit - Just out of curiosity, how are seeing conditions where you live?

Didn't follow it at first, but on re-reading it sank in. Fine work, I couldn't improve on it.

ET..I could see them both in the west for about two weeks. They appeared farther apart each night. Now, I can still see Venus perfectly, but Jupiter is a tiny dot.

Rory..thanks for the comment.

The title is relevant to the theme of the piece. It works as both an astronomical term and a grammatical term.

But I wonder if "Conjunction" is a clunky word.

fogglethorpe wrote:

The title is relevant to the theme of the piece. It works as both an astronomical term and a grammatical term. But I wonder if "Conjunction" is a clunky word.

I think it's perfectly suited to its subject personally, and it caught my eye right away. I knew I'd like it before I even read it! I'm weird...so take that for what it's worth. It would be interesting to see an 'opposition' poem too!

Ok. Thanks.

And maybe I will see if I can write what happens later when Venus runs into Mars at the supermarket..

Your poem is wonderful Thanks very much.

Abdo..thanks again. Hoping all is well in your great country.

This poem has a sort of whimsy to it that's hard to deny.

A great ode to Jupiter and Venus.

I especially love stanza 2. This is fine work.

Hey Sammi..thanks. I'm glad you found this.