seeing Orion on a winter night
stars shivering in the same familiar pattern
I've known since childhood when my dad
back from the war in the Pacific
taught me the constellations
in Dallas 1947
the great hunter's belt
three stars in a line
and below it on the sword
the slightest smudge
like hot breath on steel
a nebula called Messier 42
(I remember to this day)
and above, left, to the west
the reddish star my dad called
"beetle juice" to make me laugh
and behind the great hunter
his dog, Sirius
no star brighter but the sun
The Orion I see tonight looks the same
as the Orion I saw in Dallas in 1947
or in Pasadena in 1953
or in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1961
or on Maryland's Eastern Shore in 1976
or in Portland in 1984
and saw on every winter of my life
the same pattern of shivering stars
in the frosted night
what comfort to know that
despite wars and disasters
despite divorces and drunks
despite anything that happens underfoot
there remains stability overhead
in Orion and his brethren
the unchanging constellations
ii
if only this were true
in fact the stars are wandering
constantly and what we call "stability"
is a kind of optical illusion
due to our limited perspective
the great hunter Orion
who watches over us
knows we long for God
and so keeps Sirius on
a short leash that we may
see today the same pattern
we saw yesterday
shivering in the long
cold night
and in recognition find order
find comfort find God
and forget
if only for a moment
our lost befuddled selves
--Charles Deemer
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