8:26 on a Friday night and I'm the only chick on e-mail
in the county. I used to be a party girl, frocking up and mak-
ing up for a night of chatting it up until bedtime, grooving
on whatever anyone passed my way

8:28 on a friday night and I'm sitting in my backyard
in one of two whitewashed adirondak chairs typing
on my iBook There are stars if I look away
and Mars, still throbbing orange huge in the southeast

8:30 on that friday night I happily realize
I see city stars planets my place in the solar system
glad that Galileo didn't spark the sustained
nuclear reaction it might have if the rogue scientists

had been right.