Under this vault of stars I am content.
Stuck fast to this small rock I am at ease.
Minuscule, ego fading by degrees
and what remains of little consequence.
Only the wind and stars, and nighttime shades
of loves abandoned, fire going cold
as in the embers images unfold.
Crushed there, beneath the fallen palisades
of what my life had been, of all my owned
identity, the burdensome façade
torn down abrupt, as by a jealous god;
beneath my stony wrack, all limber-boned
and new, pellucid, clear, I watch the stars
my vision all the clearer for the scars.

1. 
   Sylvia/M 2009 03 29 at 6:03:08 am

   Beautiful, Chris.  Reminds me of how people say that stars explode and fade in an instant; only their memories reach us.  It’s no surprise that with their display our own memories replay before our eyes.

2. 
   beth 2009 03 29 at 6:43:26 pm

   I like this one a lot, Chris, and it builds beautifully to the last couplet.

3. 
   arvind 2009 04 01 at 9:01:01 am

   Beautiful! Very melodious to read out loud too! Is this the rhyming scheme of the Italian sonnet?