The Story in the Sky

dots and dots in the sky,

spots and spots form a line,

lines and lines fit together just fine,

creating stories that come alive: 

For a moment I saw the Hydra, the archer, Capricorn,

and for another moment I believed

the creator of the Milky Way was Hercules.

A wonderful example of how poetry begins with observation and imagination.

Starting with nothing more than dots in the night sky, Alison transforms constellations into stories, heroes, and myths. I especially admire the poem's childlike sense of wonder: the willingness to look upward and believe, even if only for a moment, that Hercules himself might have painted the Milky Way across the heavens.

Beautiful work, Alison. The best poems remind us that imagination is often just another way of seeing.