I hang your brilliance
on lapis sky ceiling,
trace your orbit
as Gaia spins
slowly
night upon sleepless night
thousands of miles

in the distance.
I set my course
by your nocturnal path,
and hold myself
in your stead
while lesser lights
try to steal
your incandescense

vainly,
until tonight.
You spiral down
swirl in magnificent flash
leave a wake
of night gemstones
twinkling

as you vanish.
Out of seared flesh
under my ribcage
I loosen a charred fragment
of you

still smoking.
I thought dying stars
imploded.

-- E.H.