nine treasures

did jupiter and venus dally
in the public alley of stark darkness,
was mercury found
in mud? sandals hermetic, sealed.
library of night,
alight on four wheels,
future past tense, into dalliance.
the smile lent a date
to the sand about the goal of the sphinxtress,
a moist date not the starsullen kind.
hitched on the rim of the hill,
venus and jupiter,
they shared a salad of trees
they eschewed one another
did momentary dances create black holes
were the feathered comets not enough?
are nine treasures less than one?