The following can also be found in the book Chicago Stories 2001-2004. Click here to learn more, and to download a free electronic copy.


She'll reach and touch the stars with her two hands
Just once the ones that grasp her to the ground
Are lessened due to her polite demands
Authoritative voice, she comes unbound

She is a nova waiting for a spark
Exploding sun that doesn't know its heat
More beauty than a nebulae of quarks
Aurora Borealis, secret treat

But shadows roam in this good galaxy
Black holes formed in the past and holding strong
They threaten to diminish what she sees
Corrupt her in-born sense of right and wrong

Yet she prevails and tells her shadows "no"
She is my guiding light; I love her so

Copyright 2002, Jason Pettus. All rights reserved. This was published under a Creative Commons license; click here for details. Contact: ilikejason [at] gmail [dot] com.