Exhibition

I learn there is to be a rare display
of planets ordered in the summer sky,
so off I go before the start of day
in hope of seeing such a sight nearby.

I come to where I view the crescent Moon
with Venus to the left and Jupiter
off right, but since the Sun is rising soon
Mars looks a dot and Saturn just a blur.

I cannot make out Mercury at all
above the bright horizon of the Earth,
yet ample joy makes disappointment small:
an early venture has revealed its worth.