Comet Watching
"The Universe is standing still,
That's what it is."
Motion arrested
So that long and sprawling tail
Remains unmoved and the hard round
head
Makes no apparent progress in the
sky.
We stare, at loss for distances,
Having been told the comet is "quite
nearby."
We stare, because it should streak
past,
Be consumed
Like a burning meteor,
Not sit stiller than the moon in
the night sky.
"Time has stopped, I mean it,"
I repeat, even as the comet
Cracking open, prepares itself
To be strewn among the inner planets:
Carrier of water,
Messenger of life.
11/8/99
