One by one,
we took the stars from the sky
to put on planes,
on cities, and
carvings on concrete.
One by one,
the stars in the sky stopped shining;
their names, forgotten and
their stories, ancient history.
One by one
they became
lore and legend,
and eventually, just lies.
The stars,
one by one
by one by one,
were robbed their promise
to govern the night sky.
One by one,
we took the stars from the sky.
But one by one,
—when the world goes dark,
the night the noise is silenced,
and the lights burn out—
the stars will return to take back
the names given to them;
the power to turn tides,
to change seasons
and to rule the night.
r. d. g. lover
02.22.2019