Work Text:
The other day
I saw a shooting star
For the first time.
It sparked into existence
Perfectly framed
Between two trees
And flew for a few
Inches
Kilometers
Lightyears
Before it faded.
And I laid there in
Wonder and
Awe because
I had never
Seen one
Before.
I never used to like studying
The stars or
The cosmos.
I would look at what
Surrounded the world
My world
Me
And feel
So very…
small.
But as I saw
That shooting star
And the stars surrounding it in the sky
I laid there
On the cold grass
Alone
And was content in my
Awe and Wonder.
I did not feel
Small.
The world
The cosmos
The universe felt
Enormous.
And I laid there
Framed by trees
Surrounded by everybody and nobody in
The dark
And the red embers of a bonfire
Streaking into the sky
Meters and lightyears away
And I was
Happy.
Luminosities varied
Ages varied
O
B
A
F
G
K
M
And more.
Some of the stars I saw
May have been dead for
Centuries.
Maybe they collapsed into themselves
And became supernovae
Blasting the
Interstellar medium
Through space for new stars to be
Born
In the nebulae.
One bright dot was too bright to be a
Star.
I thought it was a planet
Though I didn’t know
Which one.
Maybe Jupiter or Saturn.
And that shooting star I saw
Was not a star at all
It was a comet
Asteroid
Meteor
Streaking through the atmosphere and
Immolating.
Burning to ash and crumbling to dust
Waiting to hit a satellite.
But there is a beauty in the
Destruction.
There is a beauty in
Witnessing what
You didn’t understand
And now
Do.
A song played on loop in my head
As I thought of Aquarius and wondered if I
Could see it
But I begged for the sunshine to be kept
Out
For just a little while longer
So I could see all the secrets
It hid in the daylight.
Sunlight hides the shadows
And there can be no wonder of the
Secrets
The darkness holds.
I swore I could see the
Galaxy
And cradle it in my arms as it spread
Across the sky.
They were right, I thought
In ancient times.
It does look like a Milky Way.
The picture I dazedly took
Can never do it justice.
It didn’t pick up all the tiny stars anyway.
And I saw all the
Constellations that I
Couldn’t name
And all the stars that I
Didn’t know but knew
How they
Were born
And there are no words to describe the
Peace
I felt.
It was the most beautiful thing I have
Ever seen.
The cosmos
Wrapped itself around me like a blanket
And held me close
Because
For the first time
I truly saw
The stars.