-- STARS A-TWINKLING --

John Herlihy

Night stars overhead a-twinkling,

But come to think of it, so what.

Far out there, worlds away, winking,

Without a word to say, not even but.

They just seem to be reaching down,

As if they belonged to me, as mine.

Why then does my face wear a frown,

While there in my heart, I simply pine.

Those twinkling stars not even stars,

In a cozy nook billions of miles away.

They could be just fireflies in glass jars,

In the hands of sweet cherubs at play.

It’s the light we see, they may not exist,

Yet another illusion that tempts us more.

Why then does this fantasy still persist,

In the far reaches of the universal shore?

Ah, all those distant stars, where and when,

Moving away from what they once had been.

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(C) John Herlihy 24 February 2019