Jupiter's Moon By Sea Opal

Jupiter spun turbulent swirls
mosaic fog in jeweled colors
elliptical paths in smoky shrines
celestial globe swallowed space
thick viscous rainbows in motion
strata painted frozen oceans

Almathea spread gaseous wings,
genuflected cloudy golden light;
danced four hundred eighty millon miles,
touched ganymede and Io
fifth orbital sequence around the sun
galilean satellite queen
gravity aura sheens

Metis, Thebe and Europa sang
starry galaxy sonata tones
aria opera of moon goddesses;
Callisto shimmered and smiled
cool lapis specks splayed down
crushed black velvet floods
stormy winds on planet’s gown