The Circle of the Pupil of the Eye
by Elizabeth Henderson
Shells and pearls dance on a string
while sisters flee the White Falcon.
Brilliant shard of a broken dish,
she remains, turning a wreath in her hands,
knowing the full solitude of the circle,
the bounding white of another isle --
she is a beggar with a crown but no answers,
a cold jewel wheeling in the Endless Enclosure.
The Spider spins her a silken thread
to follow through the darkest spaces and find
the heart of the bear at rest in winter,
the slow crawl of the Tortoise through time.
Copyright © 2003, Elizabeth Henderson
Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown
by Johannes Hevelius
Elizabeth Henderson is a southern poet and astronomer. She thanks her mother for teaching her the stars in the sky, and her father for giving her the moon in a telescope.