exiting the pub I look up
into a rare clear night
and see Venus in detail
crouched up next to earth
it seems as though someone has
picked you up, Venus
and parked you next to us
I feel woozy and think
oh shit-
somebody must have spiked my drink
I should sit down on the tiny grass hill
cozying up to the pub
and breathe a little
then brave looking up again
+++
suddenly
the door slams open
exhuming two tiny Japanese women
hysterically laughing in black miniskirts
holding each other up
their drunken ruckus trails off
when one of them looks up
and points to Venus-
then faints
the other screams and runs down the street
I want to look again
but my eyes won’t open
I know Venus has swallowed the night sky
without good reason
+++
suddenly
the professors emerge from the bar
in a cloud of masculine cackle
they too are silenced by the sight of Venus
and possibly the unconscious Japanese woman in a miniskirt
only a second of silence then they pipe up
with sheer excitement
I hear them jumping up and down
I hear mysterious words couched
between oooohs and aaaahs
great words, actually:
Ishtar Terra
Aphrodite Terra
Lakshmi Planum
Maxwell Montes
Could it be?
Maxwell Montes was a great friend of mine-
as children we used to chase red squirrels
and pretend to be Hulk Hogan or Jake the Snake
then he ran away in sixth grade
and was never seen again
+++
I stand and look at the men
who all have immaculate grey beards
and I don’t see Maxwell Montes amongst them
yet they keep repeating his name,
pointing fervently toward Venus
was Maxwell descending from the sky?
is that him, naked and with long hair,
floating graciously to earth on a giant clam shell?
+++
I tilt nervously to the sky, but he isn’t there
neither is Venus
but the Japanese woman remains
stylistically sprawled across the sidewalk
the professors are nowhere to be seen
and I think again that somebody messed with my drink
-this work will be appearing in an upcoming anthology, yet to be named. Stay tuned.