A Closer Look at the Commonplace. Shines through the thin clouds. Seeping southward across the sky. Moves among the dark silhouettes. Of oak, locust and birch. Between the barn and garage. A single star, Mars perhaps,. Or the mirage of one shaped by satellite,. Shines through the thin linen of pre-dawn sky. Above the dim glow of Saint Joe toward the east. We sit for a while on metal seats,. That the heat of Kansas summer.