.02) The Stars Poem by Max Reif

The stars that were over my head this morning
Were there from the First Day,
Those stars I hid crooknecked from in cities,
While travelling my wayward way.

Slowly at first, then faster,
I began to see, eyes blinded at first by neon and streetlamps,
And the stars' nights' closeness only speaking
In a few forays into the Midnights between cities,
Bedazzling my eyes to see the jewels
Darkness was strung with.
And always I wanted to stop, and enjoy, and stare, and pray,
But a motor inside me was going too fast,
And in vans or cars
I sped back to cities
To undo my mind's
Tightly wound springs.

Then in a dozen years
I came out under the stars,
And behold! The Canopy of Heaven
Was still there,
And I murmured and prayed in valleys
Like green cups for my love, and It said:
'You were too busy before,
But we have always been here,
And we always shall be.'
That which I was to busy to love
Patiently waited for me.

Now I have finished my business
And am free to love:
And the Morning Star's Song
Has come to me with a Joy
That had always been concealed
Within my breast,

And the Heavens have exploded
Into Singing
And the weeping
Of the morning dew.