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Carol Everett Adams

Preschool Astronomy Book

This poem was published in the print journal Zone 3. I wrote it back when I often read a very simple non-fiction book to my young son at night before bed. He was fascinated with the book, and I'd reflect on it alone early in the mornings while walking our dog.


Starry night sky with Milky Way, with pier and ocean in foreground
Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

Preschool Astronomy Book


The book we read last night

drew grid lines on the sky,

and now you'll never unsee

those dots arranged—you know Orion

and Ursa Major, Little Dipper

and a word you'll love

for light years: Cassiopeia. You say

The sky is an epic ceiling over our heads.

You ask me What is affection?

Now I can't walk the dog without thinking

Sirius. We read it again in your bed

and your head is heavy on me.

Above our roof Leo is looped

like Christmas lights and nailed

in place for spring. Taurus did it

when you were sleeping. See,

he is winking at you.

We look up zodiac and find

it's simply a belt of the heavens,

and I think, yes, that explains everything.



Published in Zone 3, Volume 35, No. 2.

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