The Hunter's Stars

the hunter's star

burned brighter than all of the suns in the firmament

as through the sky he raged

with his hook and blade

and the world, unmade

as forests bow

and blacken the air

as the canopies burn away,

and the arc-lights fade

and no gull remains

to repeat its call

only now would you long

for the ancient boughs,

the moon, overlapping the long white clouds

and the home life of a love

who will never return again

no child at all

would wake to the light

of a sun that is reddening

like a robin's breast,

and no lioness

boards a last, great hull

on the waves

the close

on a world

that will never return again

and no sound escapes

from the night to come.