Swallowed by the Stars

when we’re swallowed
by the countless stars
will our names twinkle
in a velvety sky
for a lifetime of nighttimes

will we suspend there
penumbra
neither shadow nor light
the ring of a sunspot
but not quite the sun

not us, we we’ll break free
and rain down
on the morning grass
petrichor wafting
across a parched field

we’ll glint from the dew
we’ll quench thirst
We’ll be the tender renew
of countless springs
and birds will drink from us

we’ll straddle a wide sky
bluer than cobalt
we’ll skate on the wind
and skim our way across
sheer mountainsides

when the barreling winter
drives its horses home
we’ll freeze and thaw
and stretch our fingers to
warm them under a faraway sun

we’ll be fire and rain
in the charcoal sky
we’ll be flame then ash
and waft down upon
the redolent earth again

when we’re swallowed
by the countless stars
our names will twinkle
in a velvety sky
for a lifetime of nighttimes