MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY

by James Penha

Yesterday . . .

We went home
after too long being
where we thought we belonged.

Astronomers voted to strip Pluto of its status as a planet.

The parents of an Austrian schoolgirl missing for eight years said a teenager who apparently escaped from a cellar prison is their daughter.

More Israeli soldiers walked out of Lebanon — some smiling broadly and pumping their fists, others weeping or carrying wounded comrades.

The German government secured the release of a Bremen resident who has been held at Guantanamo since 2001.

A huge granite statue of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II was moved from the Cairo square where stood for more than 50 years.

Today . . .

Where we thought we belonged
so long
we know we never belonged . . .

"I have a slight tear in my eye today, yes; but at the end of the day we have to describe the Solar System as it really is, not as we would like it to be," said Professor Iwan Williams.

"Honestly, I didn't think that I'd still experience this," said Ludwig Koch. "She said: 'Dad, I love you.' And the next question was: 'Is my toy car still there?' It was Natascha's favourite toy, I never gave it away in all those years.

Some sang a traditional Hebrew song with the lyric: "We brought peace to you." Others wept as they returned to their country, exhausted by the fighting.

The German foreign intelligence agency, BND, was more pointed in its discussions with the director of the CIA's Berlin office: "The guy is a harmless nut job, let him go."

"Ramses will be happy now," said Zahi Hawass.

Tomorrow . . .

We
stone pharaohs
and prisoners
we occupiers,
and victims,
we false stars

can return home.

The solar system will not collapse.

James Penha edits The New Verse News.