A POEM FOR MERCURY

The Universe is Olympia
The Planets are the Gods
And Mercury is their messenger
The smallest and the swiftest
Of them all
The closest to the Sun
With wings on his helmet
And sandals
Moving around the Sun
In a speedy 88 days
Your distinguishing craters,
Scarps and rupes on your
Coppery surface are named
After famous Artists and
Musicians:
Renoir, Raphael and Beethoven
Honored there for all eternity
On a never changing surface
A dead world for dead artists...
An unseen planet,
Like a mirror image
On the other side of your orbit
Hiding in the shadow of the Sun
Was called Vulcan
By 19th century astronomers
Once lived there in
The imaginations of men.