Orion's belt

driving home from theater I look out

through side of car window

and see

Orion’s belt

Mintaka

Alnilam

Alnitak

huge suns

lined up in diagonal

cinching hunter’s waist

as he aims his starry bow

at celestial quarry  

a timeless tableau in night sky  

Lakota saw

the spine of a bison

in these three stars

the sky a giant prairie landscape  

now we know how

far          apart     and        how       far          away

these gigantic bodies actually are

and that Mintaka is

actually

two        stars

orbiting an endless dance  

but here on this highway

I can look up and take in

the theater of the

eternal quest