4

the premonition revealed the great
hunter Orion, oxhide and earthborn,
​stepping down on a winter’s night

across waves and weft, 
he strode in search of his quarry

he found none

our star-lain hero tarried though, 
and the encroaching dawn, 
his unbenighted admirer, 
was able to ensnare him

​

the dawn’s light radiated through the
gaping hole in his left shoulder,
holding and healing the mortal
​wound from the scorpion Betelgeuse

the great hunter was trapped 
unable to free his shoulder 
from the light

quickly, his old blade 
was drawn and then sheathed

and in the end,
he had returned to the sky, 
freed;

his left arm, severed, 
faded with the dawn;

and the wound remained,
trapped in place, the light still shining
​through it

or maybe his arm just 
fell off one day.

--)