stargazing

you and I sang the sun a lullaby;
painted the sunset with our harmonies;
coaxed out the stars with lilting tunes.
we murmured to them 
joyful little verses
dotted by sparkling laughter.

we lay side-by-side,
looking up with a newborn wonder,
lifting the eyelids
which we had once shut tight over 
the eyes of our childhoods.

among those stars,
we dared to draw constellations of our own--
we picked out letters and objects,
animals and instruments,
silently twinkling there amongst our
dreams
and hopes
and yearnings.

you began humming a bittersweet melody,
expressing to me that wish you wished for most of all--
that brightest star which at once enthralled you,
beautiful, hanging there,
though to you...
utterly  -- achingly -- out of reach.

the stars returned our gaze with glazed eyes,
yawning back at us,
oblivious to our
human whims.

but, we sang to them a new song;
for you,
I warned them to pay attention.

"look out for us, sweet stars," went my admonishing hymn,
"should we reach your brightest heights someday."