My eyes were sinking
Now I’ve got planets
Orbiting. Around my
Windows, and me
Looking at them
Turning, so quickly
They breeze by.

If I catch one
Between my fingers
And it doesn’t slip
In the first five seconds,
I’ve got it. I’ll hold it
Up to my sinking eye
And prop it open.
With another, I’ll hold
The other eye.

So I can’t blink. Nothing
Can distract me—
I can’t distract myself
While they’re whirling.
Celestial bodies
Where might they land?
Easiest to see them
In the night. They move
So quickly
I can’t get much sleep.

14.XI.24