"Stars"
"I'm awake, I am in the world.
I expect no further assurance, no protection, no promise.
Solace of the night sky, the hardly moving face
of the clock.
I'm alone.
All my riches surround me.
I have a bed, a room.
I have a bed, a vase of flowers beside it,
and the nightlight, a book.
I'm awake, I am safe.
The darkness like a shield, the dreams put off maybe
banished forever, and the day.
The unsatisfying morning that says I am your future, here
is your cargo of sorrow, do you reject me?
Do you mean to send me away because I am not
full in your word because you see the black shape already
implicit?
I will never be banished.
I am the light, your personal anguish and humiliation.
Do you dare send me away as though you were
waiting for something better?
There is no better.
Only for a short space the night sky
like a quarantine that sets you apart from your past.
Only softly, fiercely the stars shining.
Here in your room, the bedroom saying I was brave, I resisted,
I set myself on fire."