Litany for the Spacefaring: MESSENGER

Patron saint of winged feet and impossible crossings,

a little machine holding its course past comfort.

The body burned below you like a coin on asphalt,

all metal heart, promised riches, and blistered scars.

Where the old heavens slipped their measure,

you ferried notes between the mortal and divine.

Love in the tides, the heliacal weather, the blessed dark,

love in the questions still clinging to your wake.

O MESSENGER, teach us to share the seasons

that change a body under new light.