…you may not realize how Sirius,
brightest of stars (its name Greek for searing),
grows brighter still. How brilliant Canopus—
its flame of white-hot sapphire appearing
in constellation Carina, jewel
of Argo Navis—energized by warm
rush of your glow, explodes: starlight fueled
by your inner sun reflected in charm
of your face. Please don’t fear as I tell you
this. Astronomers have sensed for a while
how, somewhere on earth, carbon burns into
neon, just as stars, through one woman’s smile.
They’ve testified in theses this is true,
confessing they don’t know who. But I do.
Roger Armbrust
