Walls and Markets

The astronomer
Doesn’t watch starlight,
Doesn’t need to look.

Let the machines look.
They’re well-engineered,
Well-calibrated.

The last telescope
An astronomer made
Is useless these days.

The astronomer
Supported by walls
And markets works hard

In rooms full of screens
To parse the data,
Interpret the codes,

A city poet
Sifting through idylls,
Relaying visions

Of vast pasts aglow
With portents beyond
All markets and walls.