Pause in Starlight

Earth, sky, moon, and stars, all seem cemented, riveted together by the frost...Big stars hang in the woods between branches like blue lanterns. Small ones are strewn all over the sky like daisies in a summer field.-- Dr. Zhivago,  Boris Pasternak


I wobble down the road, eyes searching the sky.
Where are the stars? They're far to faint to find.
Too much light, Too much light,
It blinds them from my view.
So further down the road, I go, off to somewhere new.

Buildings crowd the streets, and streetlamps scattered round,
Chaos mixed with noise, stars nowhere to be found,
Cars rush by, headlights fly,
Glinting yellow fills the air.
Still further down the road, leave behind all other cares.

Hazy white and orange mix, set against the black of night,
Slowly the noise lessens, stars still veiled in light,
People fewer, buildings fewer,
Just enough to block my view,
Still further down the road, I roam, away from blinding hues.

Away from all the sounds, away from windows glass.
Pavement on the sides, fade away to grass.
Streetlights gone, all light gone,
Quiet darkness fills my eyes,
So there along the road I pause, below the waiting skies.

Here on the edge there's nothing, where anything could be,
Hiding in the stillness, in shadows, I can't see.
Go back, I think, go back,
The city's still in view.
Go back down the road, there's much there left to do.

The quiet here is ominous, too open for any sound.
Here the world is empty, clear for miles round.
Don't move forward, Don't move forward,
But I step into the dark.
For one has to stand in silence,
For one to see the stars.