STARS

I'm awake; I'm in the world.
I expect
no further assurance.
No protection, no promise.

Solace of the night sky,
the hardly moving
face of the clock.

I'm alone-all
my riches surround me.
I have a bed, a room.
I have a bed, a vase
of flowers beside it.
And a nightlight,a book.

I'm awake, I am safe.
The darkness like a shield, the dreams
put off, maybe
vanished forever.

And the day-
the unsatisfying morning that says
I am your future,
here is your cargo of sorrow:

Do you reject me? Do you mean
to send me away because I am not
full,in your word,
because you see
the black shape already implicit?

I will never be banished. I am the light,
your personal anguish and humiliation.
Do you dare
send me away as though
you were waiting for something better?

There is no better.
Only-for a short space-
the night sky like
a quarantine that sets you
apart from your task.

Only(softly, fiercely)
the stars shining. Here, in the room, the bedroom.
Saying I was brave, I resisted,
I set myself on fire.

Louise Gluck