The Stars and I

The stars and I are old friends

Since we met in Albuquerque on a cloudless night

They say we met earlier, in Tampa and in Holyoke

but I must have been preoccupied

Their charm was irrepressible

With their fiery twinkle in the summer dark

And their cold crystal glow on a wintry night

We became acquainted over the years

Through long walks and late-night confessionals

The stars listened without judgment

And never dimmed in disappointment

They were always there

Even when I couldn’t see them

Through the clouds and the tears

I’m not the same as I was in Albuquerque

Sixty years measure a man

And sometimes find him wanting

But to the stars I stand the same

My whole life

less than one beat

of a star’s fiery heart

Some midnights I implore the stars

Why can’t what was

Be what is again

Why must all brightness fade

And the stars ask

What has changed

We are still here, you and us

One night I won’t be

Will the stars remember?