Silent Night

There are peek-a-boo stars in the sky tonight

as the clouds play with a sliver of a moon

like the Dreamscape movie mogul

without the dangling being

on the make-believe swing

of the mind of wonder

they only imitate

but can never encapsulate

It’s not an unfamiliar scene

but I seldom participate in the dance

and I’m guessing you don’t either

We all have better things to do

than gaze at the night sky

do we not

Inside I’m surrounded with pottery

and portraits and paintings

carpet and crystal and candles

technology and tinsel and tedium

I’m drowning in things, thoughts, theatre

invisible constraints that choke the breath

and demand my attention or inattention

and make me irritable, irrational, inconsistent

insane

Nothing at all like the night sky

which I seldom visit

or rarely extol

or freely swig as the gods so designed

for the nutriment of mankind

and intoxication of his soul

Those wise men in the east

could not have seen

the child’s star leading

nor felt its promise

rejoiced in its nativity

marveled in its purity

worshipped its majesty

had they been held captive

to their paltry surroundings

So stop the world

I want to get off

at least for tonight

to gaze at peek-a-boo stars

and the sliver of a moon

and the glimmer of hope

that joy comes from being

and understanding comes from seeing

that which man can never portray

and words can never express

that passes through these eyes blinded by science

and silently moves my soul

into this, this singular
silent night