looking up (a moment alone)

If you’ll excuse me

I need a moment alone

with the stars.

I’d like to tell them I’m sorry

for not looking up

in a while.

For forgetting what they taught me

and letting my mind

twist its tendrils around my spirit

and surrender it

earthbound.

But I know what they’ll say.

They’ll gaze upon me like an old friend

and whisper

Welcome home

a mother with arms wide open

ready to receive me

each time I return

never betrayed, always waiting

for when I remember.

Tonight is such a night

that I not only see them

but feel their tugging on

the water in my eyes

And so tonight will be a night

that for a fleeting moment

I remember them

And so tonight will be a night

I do not forget myself.

Tonight I will look up

and receive them

as they receive me

and I will whisper things to them

I can’t explain

And they will understand

because they’ve seen it all

and because I am of them

and they are of me

and the universe knows itself

without speaking