The townspeople, like others thousands of years
before them, gathered outside in the dark to wait
for Halley’s Comet to cross the stars
As a small boy I learned not to believe in myths
or magic, fairy tales or legends
I came to know a comet was a ball of dust
and ice illuminated as it circled the sun
and nothing more
When I learned I had one chance in my lifetime
to witness Halley’s arc I stood for hours
with the townspeople until the comet lit above
one mountain, edged with a flare over us and
disappeared behind the next peak
For that short interval I surrendered to awe,
became a child again, saw in the comet a part
of myself that wanted to beat the odds
The next morning I woke in the raw
morning sun to find my neighbor’s old
dented pickup parked off kilter in his drive,
and fell back to earth