Telescopes positioned.
Technicals checked, rechecked.
Lonely tripod sentinels,
their tubular necks tracing the cosmos.
Alien amidst silhouettes
of Joshua tree, cactus and mesa.
Temporal.

Astrophotography novices celebrating
the celestial nuptials between
art and science-
man’s miracle
of making the invisible,
visible.
Unaware that they, too, were being watched-
from afar.

Walking in nature, composing music and staring at the night sky are just a few of Melanie’s preferred pastimes. Occasionally, she may do all of these at the same time.