Phobos and Deimos

by Kenneth Pobo

Phobos

madly in love! Mars,
just another stranger
walking the Milky Way's
weary streets, yawns
about their lovelives.

Phobos, suffering
for millennia,
gives Deimos the eye—
Deimos coos, craves
what can't be given. Light

reflects gaunt, sad faces.
They orbit Mars, beg
the Universe to shrink back
to before the Big Bang

so they can touch, briefly,
before death dissolves them.

Copyright © 2004, Kenneth Pobo

Deimos

Kenneth Pobo teaches Creative Writing and English at Widener University in Pennsylvania. His new book of poems, Introductions, is now available from Pearl's Book'Em Press. He has been interested in astronomy (minus the math) for many years, especially drawn to Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (with a special affection for Pluto's charming moon Charon). His story "Neptune Boy" appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer's magazine.