from beyond

its steps ordered

pulled by powers

too vast too distant

too subtle

for earth’s instruments

to take measure

her intellects to grasp

II

born in space

                      my frigid form

centuries passed, chemically inert

until at last my sun

                      pulls me in close

its heat on my skin

thawing my icy core

my jets, ignited

light the night sky

Shelly Bryant

Saturn, and His Heir

“Saturn and Jupiter combined account for 92% of the entire planetary mass in the solar system.”

(http://theplanets.org/saturn/)

– for the 1%

of the eight, maybe nine

    gathered here

two hoard the bulk of resources

leaving even less than a tithe

    from their coffers, to be split

    by the remaining congregants

like all greedy giants

    and other failed stars

    they float, without face

        and skinless

naked, gaseous, and overheated

they swirl in their fancy garb

    without a single inch

    of solid ground on which to stand

while in the hearts of their neighbors

    a fire burns

                    hot and hard

and on those toughened shells