Faded and is Lost

The dark chilled blanket of night
has fallen upon the warmth of a sunny afternoon
Eyes blinded by the descending sun
Still see neon shadows where a moon should be
but isn't

Stars twink and shine through vapor mists of
Stratospheric cloud

Is that a satellite, a sputnik slipping by
In the dark between the lights of far away suns?

No matter, it has faded and is lost past the horizon it travels

A chill breeze softly shivers away the remnants
of a warm summer day
Red mars and white venus are lost in a cloud
I am cold
I go to sleep never to recapture the summer
warmth gone so suddenly

25 March 1990
revised 17 February 2002