NightSky*Stars

This is one of the older poems I wrote a long time ago. It is also one of my favourites.

image from WikiPaintings



NightSky*Stars




     What myriad secrets you hold up there
     we can only boldly guess.
     Your mysteries, time locked
     & unwilling yet to share.

What light i saw
could have been born a billion years before

You are ancient legends, retold over glowing fires,
domains of the gods, we are told.
In time, as we grew wiser,
we dared, we probed your dark canvas.

Your depth, i could not fathom
the immense distance you span.
If i could live a million reincarnations,
i guess i could not traverse you from end to end.

Tonight, on such a cold night,
in a miniscule niche on a blue planet,
as i lift my eyes to the vastness above,
the stars, they speak to me in lights of life.

     from worlds so distant
     from voices so ancient

ashes to earth to life to earth to ashes
trilobites in shale, archaeopteryx in stone
Beatles on wax, memories in silicon brains
man chasing gold chasing dreams chasing fame

now what light i saw
could have been me a billion years before.



*** written DEC 1987 ***
* slightly revised 12/10/2013 *

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“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson


Shared on Poetry Pantry #172 at Poets United.

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2013

NightSky and Stars

Here's something I wrote some time ago, and posted here before. It's one of my personal favourites.

I know, another re-post.



photo by Daniele Musella
image from morguefile.com




NightSky and Stars



      What myriad secrets you hold up there
      we can only boldly guess
      Your mysteries, time locked
      & unwilling yet to share.

What light i saw
could have been born a billion years before

you are ancient legends, retold over glowing fires
domains of the gods, we are told.
In time, as we grew wiser,
we dared, we probed your dark canvas.

Your depth, i could not fathom
the immense distance you span.
If i could live a million reincarnations,
i guess i could not traverse you from end to end.

Tonight, on such a cold night,
in a miniscule niche on a blue planet,
as i lift my eyes to the vastness above,
the stars, they spoke to me in lights of life.

On this planet, spinning, are we.
Solar Planetary System, #3

      ashes to earth to life to earth to ashes
      trilobites in shale, archaeopteryx in amber
      Beatles on wax, memories in silicon brains
      man chasing gold chasing dreams chasing fame

now what light i saw
could have been me a billion years before.

*** DEC 1987 ***


© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 )

NightSky*Stars

I have to re-post another old poem again. The muse is missing, the avalanche of work at the office doesn't seem to abate. Sigh.

This poem is part of a set I sent to a nationwide poetry competition a few years ago, although it was written very much earlier. There's some naivety in structure and words, but this piece has remained one of my personal favourites.




Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night.
image from internet


NightSky&Stars


What myriad secrets you hold up there
we can only boldly guess
Your mysteries, time locked
& unwilling yet to share

What light i saw
could have been born a billion years before

     you are ancient legends, retold over glowing fires
     domains of the gods, we are told.
     In time, as we grow wiser,
     we dare, we probe your dark canvas

Your depth, i could not fathom
the immense distance you span.
If i could live a million reincarnations,
i guess i could not traverse you from end to end.

Tonight, on such a cold night,
in a miniscule niche on a blue planet,
as i lift my eyes to the vastness above,
the stars, they speak to me in lights of life.

On this planet, spinning, are we.
Solar Planetary System, #3

     ashes to earth to life to earth to ashes
     trilobites in shale, archaeopteryx in amber
     Beatles on wax, memories in silicon brains
     man chasing gold chasing dreams chasing fame

now what light i saw
could have been me a billion years before.

*** DEC 1987 ***