it’s getting late so i shut off the tv
and check the back door
to make sure it’s bolted shut
tight against all shadows.
through frosty glass
the night sky is dotted white
in perpetual splendor.
i imagine on any other world
much of the same stars we see
might shine their light
across that distant firmament too,
but their arrangement
would surely be different.
and should you find yourself there
you’d no doubt learn how
people would have taken the time
to name clusters of them
just like we did
all those countless years ago,
handed down like a prize
one generation to the next.
only their constellations
would have other names and shapes,
organized and codified by season
or whatever symbolic meaning
they could discern
from gazing up in abject wonder.
so if you find yourself beneath
an alien sky quite possibly
some other shade than blue,
just remember this simple truth
before it gets too late —
how all that you see
and cherish comes down
to perspective in the end.
