An intermission,

an introduction,

a set of poems to call in the first three parts of Book 2: Ante Lucem (before dawn), Prima Lux (first light) and Dilculum (twilight).

Business in the Light of an Early Dawn

Ante Lucem

heat
all night swelters under a white sun
wake up and face the solar
heat

in darkness's relative cool curtains breathing out
like lungs
in the wind
bodies hollow windswept exposed buildings

cooling magic in the ghost city
a world operating on low power.

the motionless penumbras of swiftly scuttering suits
no on sees
the colors cast across the sculptures in the park
take a link right over morning's curiosities

Prima Lux

dreams wrap around Nova

Feel the sheets cocoon her in not caring

sheets coiling in cuffs around her
wrists to make marionette strings
It's her fault,
it's not her fault, it was her fault
it wasn't her fault it was

Eyes wide never wanting to close again,
but that didn't stop the dream.

Loving blood slid out.

Twilight

Business runs like clockwork
before so much as a hint of dawn.
Business suits run under streetlight.

The Diluculum half hour before sunrise
the city runs rushing in the dark
like clockwork.

Only today, Portia must be late,
because at the top of the stairs out of the rapid transit tunnel
Sol has already risen.

Stars rise early this morning.

Thank you for reading these poems introducing Book 2 of Stars Rise. I hope you'll continue to enjoy the story, and leave a star for the poetry.