In the Gray

The sun rises when she is good and ready.
We live at her mercy.
Good and ready. Strange phrase.
Ready seems straightforward but good?
What is it for the sun to be good?

If good by nature, she simply can be.
If good by action, she must perform.
Her performance is that she rises,
brings daylight, sustenance.

She never has a day off.
When she departs at dusk, she visits
our kin in another hemisphere.

What about a cloudy day?
This is gray territory. Is she deciding
whether to be good? Getting ready?

Sun: I’m sleeping in today. It’s my birthday.
World: Your birthday? You know your birthday?
Sun: It’s Miranda Legato 5479. And that’s today.
World: How old are you?

Sun: 4.603 billion years, give or take.
But this is the day I was born.
I have another five billion years to go, give or take.
I’m good. I’m ready.

Upside Down and From Below:
Marin Poetry Center Anthology 2022