you, in chains of diamond rain

for the first time in 30 years, Neptune has no clouds 

                and the waves are visible on the surface.

          the sky unfolds -

i inhale methane and exhale                                 

you, in chains of diamond rain

crushed by hydrocarbons that crush themselves -

               imagine: this glittering, desolate world.

none of this is visible to the naked eye            

but i can still see you in the fog of my breath

           and hear you near the shell of my ear

                          as if listening for the ocean –

slippery like a cloud on Neptune 

and no more than a lapse of vision

           after staring for too long at

                        a space in the sky.