DARK NIGHT SKY PASSAGE
      
 
 1.     

Dark Earth itself's
Become a midnight sky,
A Void before a world
Was ever thought.

Our dark, winged Mother
Purrs from deep inside
And homes her nose
Toward Light, with sight
As sure as Angels.

Here in her womb, 
This narrow cave
Of  lighted, solid ground,
We fidget and await our birth.



2
 
Now a little galaxy 
Comes into view below
Like fading coals
Of memory,
Its tiny constellations
Straining to be seen.
 
Almost too dim 
To pinpoint,
A spiral nebula
Curls 'round and back
Toward some
Invisible horizon. 
 
The stars below us
Start to multiply. We trace
A narrow, spinal cord 
Of  large, bright ganglia.

My recognition 
Starts to dawn,
Like Ancients bringing
Language from the night.
Now I can give
These constellations names:
That one is Highway 70.

Now we're entering
A Milky Way
Of such Earth-stars,
Too numerous 
For eyes to even sort

 Except to know
That every star
That pulses radiance
Beams us some node
Of human life.
 
We come down to
These endless 
Possibilities.
 
Deplaning, I look up.
"What then," I wonder,
"Are those stars above?"