skyscapes: a sestina

raise the curtain, light the stars
let the fairy candles shine
a fitting counterpoint to the dark.
each pinprick speck of light sings
a spell to fight against the velvet sky—
as fire dancing on a comet’s tail.

and in my tiny room I craft a tale
to catch the simple magic of the stars
as they spiral through my mindscape sky.
story was invented for the shine—
the urge to lift our voices and to sing
a spell to pit the stars against the dark.

as I am lost, confused by clouds of dark,
I long to find my way to a new tale—
new galaxies, with brand new songs to sing,
new patterns that I see within the stars.
each story found through constellation’s shine
transcending the vast enormity of sky.

the ancients knew the stories of the sky,
and traced fine lines that gleam across the dark—
as Orpheus, now changed to Cygnus’ shine
rose from his bloody end in tale
to ever follow Lyra ‘cross the stars
encouraging us later bards to sing.

but now, it hard to hear the starscape sing—
when scientists would chart and name the sky
by formulas that codify the stars
forgetting ancient spells against the dark.
the risk of definitions in a tale
is that we lose the place where magic shines.

and so I gather star dust, see it shine,
I taste old notes and lift my voice to sing
the patterns of a new, transforming tale
that finds new patterns etched into the sky.
who can stay lost inside the dark
when there’s a modern magic to the stars?

so, as galaxies shine across the velvet sky
I never forget to sing against the dark
for that would end the tale, snuff out the stars.