At a little past ten thirty last night Lucas, Maria, and I headed out to see the Perseid meteor shower. It had been a long, hot day, and we were all spent by bedtime, but were still keen to try and catch the last night of good viewing. Last year's showers were a bust for us due to circumstances, and cloud cover, but last night was utter perfection. The quality of the air was magnificent; light, and tender compared to the oppressive heat earlier in the day. We pulled off to Kinlock beach, and stuck our heads out the car window. The swell of a dazzlingly clear, mid August night sky threatened to swallow us whole. Maria was in a state of wonderment at the beauty of the night. Lucas was amazed by the speed of the meteors, even the seemingly slow ones. They wondered how old the meteors were, where they were coming from, and where they were going to which inevitably led to Maria, our physics lover, adding in about the mystery of the infinitely expanding universe--"expanding into what?" she wondered aloud.
Last night the Perseids
rained across the sky trailing stardust
like tendrils
to sweep the expanse clean of us
while cricket song burned
an etching into the darkness of
waves lapping the south shore beach
sketching in seaweed their mid August stories.
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