September 10, in conjunction with Venus and Mars, the self-

checkout at CVS gave me vitamins: Women’s Multi- and Omega 3,

2 for the price of 1. In lieu of Venus, the statue of us is only dulled

by the wind. Today: Offshore, Tomorrow: Uproar. This year, bright star,

the weather is shore, shore, shore. The upper table shows the Eastern

Standard Time when each star transits the meridian, meaning my star

will appear above us at approximately, exactly, 11:55. If this were 1976,

if it were us underneath the sky’s exact middle, would you walk with me

to buy McDonald’s past dark, past the red, black, red, of the ambulance

light and all the sad, sad, faces with their McChicken-hands? In lieu

of stars, I’ve brought you a medium-fry and the promise of a full,

full moon.

BROOKE SCHIFANO is a poet, currently working on her MFA at UMASS Boston. She lives in a small house with her cat and her person.