"His Telescope" by Dane Karnick

For Captain Wayne Hanson

Beside a ponderosa

He introduced us

To ancient torches

Littered across the sky

Pinched through a tube

Named Celestron that

Whirled clusters of stars

Through a hilltop dome where

He pried open the lip

Of the Sombrero galaxy

To scrutinize its tenants

Secluded in Virgo

And manipulated

The Ring Nebula

With a bunch of eyepieces

Held between our bodies

Crammed within the walls

Of his observatory

Light years away from

His military command