Beneath
the swirling clouds that cover Jupiter from pole to pole the
ocean
has
never
seen sunlight, nor has it ever
felt the rough confining contours of land.
I passed a man
smiling at a wall of dense foliage.
"What do you see?" I asked him.
"A Yellow Warbler. He chirped at me!"
Further along
a small bird is desperately flapping its wings.
Another bird lands, but sees it can't save the sick bird's life.
Its waves have
never crashed against a sloping beach, for there is no land anywhere
across Jupiter’s enormous girth: not even an island or reef.
Where the river
flowed: yellow
loess.
Where the gods lived: blue nostalgia.