Nostalgic Starry Moment

I would never disrespect the moon in all her beauty - but in her absence such glories fill the heavens! Like small woodland animals who only appear in my absence, or when they think I do not see - so do these stars and planets come forth while Luna's back is turned. Three skies I will always remember, they are imprinted on the dome of my mind: the first because it was the first time I wondered at the expanse, the second because of with whom it was shared, the third because I was alone and my thoughts were free to roam without any inhibition from star to galaxy to constellations I have no name for, nor need for one.

Curious to me that these lights appear best when the Ruler of the night is away from home. I wonder if they feel the short-lived liberation of a people right after the victory of a revolution: all in revelry until in sobriety they stop their dances as the fear of unbridled liberty creeps over them - in the darkness anything can happen.

Tonight they truly do dance, the scholars call this a "meteor shower, but I know that the little starts have gotten tired of wearing shoes and staying put, and want to jump into a river yet unbeknownst to them - a planetary pool of delight. The larger ones, they leave a longer tail behind as they are pushed out of their nesting places by the older ones. "Time to fly" their parents say. My very favorite, though, are the ones which linger a moment to make sure I am watching - these are the wise sages of the bunch, and as they move slowly across the years of timelessness, they impart wisdom to all they pass. It is the echoes of these voices which pierce the imaginary divide between them and me, and I am wiser for their words unspoken yet comprehended.

I sadden knowing the starry host will soon be hid from me, not by light of moon, but by light of man as I move to a "city". I can only hope some of those which I have come to know so well will peek out from time to time to tell me the stories I am missing, the tales told while I'm away. And perhaps they'll fall in my direction. I can always hope.