POEM AND PHOTO BY ED NORTHEN

Each year solstice arrives

orbiting fire at its zenith

initiates a long descent into absence

depending on latitude

I ponder if planets

in other solar systems

have latitudes which allow for life

as they orbit their fiery stars

perhaps time is measured differently

on planets in remote galaxies

their seasons and climates unique

given orbits are distinctive

I consider human orbits

what is our center

the belief which fixes us to

to the star we circumnavigate

the force which sustains

the trajectory of our journey

directs our course

to life

in another realm

another distant reality