observatory
winter in sutherland
drives the sheep
to the skies –
the warmth of some suns
even at a distance
can overwhelm:
invited in from their kraals
they scatter as if free.
on the edge of town inside
a roofless hut i sat down
wanting to count them,
and smartly you herded together
the coordinates, tracked
the mirror to let me see.
you were happy with my
luck, happy with me.
how selectively unnatural
this history now seems.
isangelous darwinism:
jupiter, io, ganymede.
Marcelle Olivier is a poet and archaeologist. She divides her timebetween the UK and South Africa, and you can read more of her poetry in, amongst others, Oxford Poetry, New Contrast, and Carapace.