By Faye Branum
“. . . one might have thought that Nature lived hard by,
and was brewing on a large scale.”
—Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
The smoldering coil
Suspended on a tin stand
Like the rings
Of a microcosmic planet
So small it cannot
Be seen in this single take.
There must be a universe
Dwelling hard by
But where to see the other
Systems of orbs percolating
Around some unknown sun
Some bulbous roiling star
That may be the city streetlamp
On the corner built
In time for the World’s Fair
To channel vapors of distilled coal,
Or perhaps the planet’s shining sphere
Is that window lantern bright on the street
Burning from a century away
Fueled by the oil of whales harvested
From the sea in mass
Lifespans and more from this
Singular invisible backyard planet
Circling through the earth’s world
Unexplored.
—Faye A. Branum