THE FOURTH OF JULY

The beautiful face of the child
Looked across the open world
And saw the sky and ocean turn upside down
All the myriad stars fell into the hair
Of the beautiful child
And he burned like a sun
And on another intelligent planet
The face of another beautiful child
Smiled as he saw in the dark heavens
A huge brilliant explosion
Of ten billion stars
Disappearing
It was the Fourth of July.