-- What the Stars Tell Us --

John Herlihy

I ponder the nights I slept and woke to another day,

Aa many of the nights with all those stars up there.

 I start each day the same way that I start every day,

Open my eyes, thank God, say my humble prayer.

For many years I journeyed in a vast land not ours,

Sojourner in desert and oasis ever in search of home.

We have a story to leave behind among the flowers,

Under the protective awnings of the celestial dome.

Now the wish of my soul is not just to seize the day,

Now, in waking, I hope to find a former innocence.

To capture some untroubled moments along the way,

In all the remaining days that my life will make sense.

We arrive in infancy and take leave in our old age,

In between are heady moments of joy and sorrow.

Hopefully, knowledge gathers the wisdom of a sage,

To well serve my needs when I wake up tomorrow.

Stars, they do tell us of infinite silence and quietude,

Light years the measure of distance their light flows.

Years the measure of time for our brief interlude,

Including all we encounter of life’s highs and lows.

Stars, they do tell us of the million moments of time,

A multitude of hours and days as months and years.

To come together as one individual destiny sublime,

A journey into the unknown when our vision clears.

And if when tomorrow comes, I never again awake,

The journey to the unknown now finally revealed.

Stars now brimming with a light no longer opaque,

The mystery we lived with now be finally unsealed.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Monday 26 December 2022