A Testament of Stars

Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades
Return, steadfast, each autumn to our skies
As symbols of the changeless verities
Made manifest in fire for mortal eyes;
The Bull’s red glare will annually ascend,
And Huntsman’s gleaming diamond coat of mail,
The Seven Sister Stars will ever lend
Their blessing to all voyagers who sail.

Columbus must have turned his eastward gaze
On these same signs that punctuated dark,
As older sailors in Phoenician days,
And long before them, Noah in his Ark.
Atomic man to dust someday will turn,
But still the promise of these stars will burn.