Sarah Laskin

Up walking Rocky in the proto-dawn,
turn the corner where the trees open
and Orion is exposed to view, always

steps behind the seven sisters, his prey.
Stand and watch, wait for the signal
that says Orion, time to give your bow 

back to the prop master, make way
on the stage for the Sun, her chariot
arrives soon. Is it a specific tone

of cobalt that allows the hunt
to slow overhead? Or some cosmic 
horn I can’t hear? At the first bands

of lavender and pink, the chase is over, 
the hunter and hunted faded out. I wait 
for Rigel, Betelgeuse, Alnitak, Alnilam,

Mintaka and the Pleiades sisters to change 
into their street clothes, descend together 
to the corner of 18th and California. We 

walk to the Diner to fill ourselves with eggs, 
hashbrowns, joke about each star’s timeline to 
cosmic retirement, watch the Sun take the stage.

Sarah Laskin (she/her) is a poet and creator-artist. Her work has appeared in Painted Pebble Lit Mag and was nominated for Best of the Net. She works in wildlife conservation and lives in Washington DC, with a fabulous dog.