Wanderstar

He had thumbed about in Chants of a Wander-Star last night in bed and wondered about the career of that marginal versifier — born out of his proper time and now remembered by Ackley in an era even less proper.

A thin scythe of moon was rising, near the white wanderstar of dawn or dusk.

He passed gulls, terns, cormorants as if they were standing still. Now and then a wander-star crossed the heavens: one of the metal eyes the ancients hung over Alifros to spy on their enemies.