Venus

    There was one star visible in the sky, one star only. The morning star, no doubt, although he wasn't a scholar of the sky, or the natural world at all. Books were his salvation, his refuge.

    But on this morning, today, he happened to step outside at the ungodly hour of 5:42 am and there it was, the smooth blue sky and the single point of light--a star--in the sky.

    Or a planet?

    What had he read? What did he know? Was it really Venus staying awake and illuminated by reflected light to greet him, just him, this morning? To send him to his books, to his dim library lined with books, his papers, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and old National Geographics, (in chronological order), with answers to every question ever posed or examined by man...or woman.

    He had learned to include women in his every utterance and, now, thanks to Magna's infernal preaching, in his every thought.

    What was wrong with her? But he had tried, had really tried to be inclusive in his talks, in his speeches, his lectures and his writings to keep the peace.

    Which the star, that Venus of the morning sky, offered him now. Peace. But, when he looked up again, it was gone.

    Just like Magna.