Fallen Star

John Herlihy

Enough to know it had occurred,

I cannot say where, why, or when.

Within me a new kind of life stirred,

I now know what could have been.

I was once a star in the firmament,

Happily twinkling my heart’s content.

One of a trillion stars in dazzlement,

I knew the universe and all it meant.

In slow motion, we roamed on high,

Abiding by rhythms of universal law.

We never questioned the reason why,

Sole duty to be watchful of all we saw.

We never erred, but could be naughty,

To close our eyes in the celestial gaze.

To dream one simple dream, so flighty,

To trip and fall through shadowy haze.

Call it destiny, call it mystical power,

All things happen because they must.

Within eternity, no such singular hour,

Always in the mercy of God do we trust.

I now shot thru heaven as fallen star,

Everything known to become unknown.

I passed through a solar door held ajar,

My internal rhythms now in doubt sewn.

Now I knew I didn’t know the universe,

Tempting fear soon crept into my heart.

Falling down along a pathway perverse,

No taking of leave, unwilling to depart.

While I tumbled thru the heavens, I saw,

There in a distance, a marble bright blue.

Turning in orbit, also obedient to the law,

This was not mere dream, but a thing true .

This must be the realm of planet earth,

Living planet of humans thru ages told.

Whispered among us starlets from birth,

But never thought in person to behold.

I found a way on a windowsill to alight,

Thru the aperture I saw a wakeful child.

Sleepily yawning into the dead of night,

Silence everywhere, a soft breeze mild.

The child woke fully and crept to the sill,

Gazing in wonder with believing eyes.

I too beamed brightly by force of will,

As kindred spirits, we could tell no lies.

“Hello,” she said, without even a blink,

“I’ve been waiting for you many a year.”

“Indeed, you have,” I replied, with a wink.

“Still, don’t you feel a little bit of fear?”

“Certainly not,” she said with equal calm,

“I always knew that you would finally come.”

Her reply touched my heart as soothing balm,

In my simplicity, I felt I had a victory won.

Thereafter, I appeared to her nightly,

She always had many stories to tell.

Her voice sang sweetly and brightly,

Till I, a lonely star, deeply in love fell.

A second falling had now occurred,

First from the heavens, and now this.

My sense of balance suddenly blurred,

How could a simple star feel such bliss.

Little children have a way in their giving,

Their innocence makes others feel glad.

They know of no other way of true living,

Nothing in their hearts has room for bad.

I lost specks of light as she began to age,

Into night’s darkness, they did drift away.

I now understood life had turned a page,

The love I now felt showed a new way.

The child blended into her future days,

She could no longer see me as before.

I too drifted back into the night’s ways,

Into heaven, to shine nightly as before.

I once said that I the universe knew,

Now I realize how much I didn’t know.

We stars shine brightly as wind blew,

But not even stars claim all to know.

Now I do know more and shed a tear,

Love, only love, makes real all we know.

Starlight you will remember to hold dear,

Love of a believing child leaves hearts aglow

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(c) John Herlihy 17 April 2025