The Bringer of Old Age

The street astronomer’s telescope
points out over the harbor
at a dot of light
no one noticed.

He’s offering a view
–donations accepted–
of the one still thing
in this night.

I’ll have a look
though I already know what I’ll see.

I’ll only get so many views

so I wait my turn

as boats click against docks
and young adults stream out of the bars

and sneak one more brief peek.

She looked through the telescope

Old graphic of the Moon (from “Smith’s Illustrated Astronomy,” 1855) with cut text from an old Audubon Magazine.

something worth looking at

A page of Garrett Putman Serviss’ “Pleasures of a Telescope: An Illustrated Guide for Amateur Astronomers and a Popular Description of the Chief Wonders of the Heavens for General Readers” (1901) redacted into a poem.