He stands a shade bearing light. The blood of life
in conjunction with the secondhand sunlight
of the moon, Venus, and Jupiter as they spin
along the ecliptic.
The hum of distant electric lights
sounds like his daughters
in the far room
with their dolls and stuffed animals arrayed
for a celebration or on the daybed turned
amphitheater as an audience to a child
directed drama unfolding
on the floor-
Momma bear runs off with Mr. Squirrel.
But in the darkness, as their father works
the pre-dawn field, the cat curls
down among them.
Their wide unblinking button eyes stare
over the sleeping girls,
the remnants of a civilization
burned and razed by those who loved them.
