Orrery

I don’t go to many parties but
when I do I tend to drift to the outer ring

and watch the swirling center.
If you think of a party the way you think

of a solar system, I’m Neptune,
roaming about among the ice crystals.

It’s rather peaceful out there
without Venus breathing gin in my face

or Mercury’s bad jokes.
The only one farther out than I am

is Pluto, snoring on the lawn
and with nobody to drive him home.









Charles O’Hay is the recipient of a Fellowship in Poetry from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. His poems have appeared in over 125 journals, and his two collections—Far from Luck (2011) and Smoking in Elevators (2014)—were published by Lucky Bat Books. He lives in Pennsylvania.