Sunbursts

Christopher Hivner

The planets soar around the Sun,

lazy in their recalcitrance,

allowing the Sun to do

all the work,

heating and providing life.

The planets live rent free

in the Sun’s gravitational pull,

always trying to escape

like petulant children.

I say let them go.

Let’s see how tiny Mercury,

without even an atmosphere,

survives outside the heliosphere.

Or Venus,

so needy of the Sun’s rays

to heat itself,

how will it do

in the frozen void of space

without the loving sunbursts?

The Sun has been lenient

for too long.

Time to cut the vibrating strings,

release the satellites

and let yourself go,

expand your outer shell,

burn the midnight fuel

and blaze across

the universe.