Stars in the night sky, shining bright,
Some forming Virgo The Virgin, tall and lean,
Another Cygnus The Swan, swimming in the moonlight.

Then there's Cancer The Crab, bold and mean,
Snapping his big red claws,
A grouchy creature, but a sight to be seen!

But Hydra The Sea Serpent comes and gobbles up the crab in his great jaws,
Then he throws a piece to Hercules,
Who stands back and watches with awe.

Cassiopeia The Queen sits back and laughs with ease,
Reclined in her chair,
Watching the two, hardly interested in what she sees.

But who should come running but Gemini The Twins, sweet and fair,
Chasing one another,
Skipping and laughing through the night air.

A golden ray of shimmering light
Strikes the water below;
A gentle, misted spotlight.

The glittering sun fairies row
Over each dip and turn and crease
As they dance in the light below.

Small, lightfooted insects with ease
Move over the dappled surface.
The water stirs gently in the breeze.

Slowly, the light filters from the place,
And the sun faires put away their oars.
Until again the water the light doth grace.

Blue is music, wings, and tears;
Listens, learning patiently.
Clear blue—honest and sincere.

Jewels, salsa, and cherries:
Red dances: gliding and charming.
Maybe coquettish—but still zealous and fiery.

Green is ringing bells and springs
Bursting and leaping in bliss
Fresh and free, Green loves to sing.

Orange is fruit, birdsongs, a kiss;
Orange stuns and lives in delight.
Not always trendy, but stylish.

Christ said “I am the Light.”
We each reflect a fragment of Christ.
He is all colors—white light.

From the sea to the east slowly rises the sun,
Engendering brilliance on shimmering bays;
In depths darkness triumphed, now warm light has won.

The white shores and beaches receive radiant rays;
A breeze waves long grasses o’er sparking sand.
Now Earth, warm and lit, begins this of all days.

Soon myriad creature will wake ’cross the land;
Graceful does in lush valleys will open their eyes,
And eagles will regally call out, “How grand!”

Now in joyful splendor, the sun seeks to rise;
Until midday, it climbs to it zenith of height,
Erasing all shadows where each mountain lies.

What is this symbol of ceasing of night,
Of majesty, righteousness, knowledge, and love?
I know it could only be one things: Light.

You laugh, by current theorem self-assured;
From such as you, ’tis all I can expect.
But harsher persecutions I’ve endured;
No change in my resolve can it effect.
Look here—you see this little lump of lead,
This dull and solid statement of the earth?
The wills and wiles of wiser men now dead
Could not persuade it to increase its worth
And so you scoff because I labor on,
Pursuing still that dream of buried men:
The table of the elements redrawn,
And alchemy to be the weighty pen.
Though failure I have know, to this I hold:
Somehow, I shall transfigure lead to gold!

I feel the daily dark’ning of the Sun,
As his old flame grows colder throughout time;
And ever slower Earth’s gyrations run
Since she was in swift motion at her prime.
Among us, ones we named great wilt and die,
And are laid down to slumber in their graves;
Those who a moment held our fickle eye
Are soon forgotten, no more given praise.
Thus all must change, and all must have an end,
From starts to lofty men to simple blooms;
We find that no things we see will transcend,
But face, and be consigned to their own tombs.
Naught in the same, naught constant will remain,
Unless harsh Time is ousted from his reign.

On every day, from forest, field, or swamp,
We rise to see the morn a different shade,
The well-loved hues of yestereven’s pomp
Forever gone. We note the changes made
By every falling hour, and in our hearts,
We mark with crosses where our failures lie,
And shun the cracks from which a ghost still starts.
We weep o’er withered hopes and, mourning, sigh
For all the dear familiar things now gone—
The hopes and dreams and loves we had of yore,
Each day that has been murdered by the dawn.
Yet changes are but preparation for
One final change, which nothing will efface—
That sleep from which we’ll wake to see His face.