the mottled blue Moon
in a silver cup dances
round Jupiter and Venus
Just after sunset the mottled blue Moon sitting in a silver cup swings between Jupiter and Venus, like English Country dancers doing a hey for three. On the other side of the canopy of stars, red Mars hurries to catch up with the trio. The eyes perceive three bright orbs in close proximity and the imagination endows this image with meaning.
An Earthling, holding up a small appendage, measures the apparent distance between the Moon and her two companions: a hand span separates Moon from Jupiter, while Moon and Venus are a mere thumb's width apart. To the eyes, the Moon looks like a huge celestial ball and socket joint, while Venus seems as big as a six carat diamond and Jupiter just a diamond chip. Yet the mind knows that this difference in apparent size is only an appearance: Jupiter is actually a giant planet and Venus is far larger than the Earth's satellite.
Appearance means "to bring forth," and this ability to bring forth relationships between disparate things is one of the greatest procreative acts of being human.
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