Looking for a Star

2007-2008

The star at which I stared And wondered how it stayed so – So constant, so bright And thus derived inspiration when low,

That ever-shining ray of hope The eternal supervisor of my life Has now fallen across my thoughts And life’s weary strife Has forced it to consume itself.

A brighter day, a higher morrow When the sun would stay at the horizon and blink It would thus overfill me with its glorifying light And into its depth I’d let myself sink.

I’d know then that the star had done it’s job And had hugged its fate letting mine free. My strength would yet behold me on my voyage. But for the ship, the sea, the destination, in their entirety for me.

Notes: The poem is about an experience that brought into focus the harsh reality in which the speaker stood dejected by his own worshipped idea. The ideal image had failed to inspire and/or help the speaker who was thus at a sudden loss of what was to come. The totality of his existence, being, thoughts, work, and actions – had been diminished to nil. But to hold the speaker in such a metaphorically darkened phase of life, comes forward yet another force of nature and infuses in him faith and belief for Nature’s plan. The plan, which the speaker now realizes, is none. The aim of life is to go on your own, self-willed voyage, with the forces of nature nudging you forward. They cannot make you see, but can give the power of vision. We are thus equipped and must seek our own dreams, independent of any outside force. Although at some point we may feel all alone, light follows the darkness and clear soft skies the cold insensitive mists to show that happiness and sadness are momentary and as in nature, our lives are a true balance of love and friendship, hope and despair, dreams fulfilled and unfulfilled – and through all the complexities of life, a simple, clear guiding light constantly falls on us.