Illusion

Mary Brunini McArdle

Light plays such lovely havoc
With the winter’s cold:
Above the power lines
That parallel the interstate,
A tiny, white-hot sphere appears.

A perfect circle, it moves closer,
And two horizontal lines
Extend on either side.

Soon an ordinary aircraft
Presents its configuration,
Complete with double engines
And a tail.
But for a moment,
In the dim and murky sky,
There was a star with wings.