The Stars Shine On

Photo from NASA.

Aajmal Henry

The Stars Shine On

The stars shine on

And flames keep burning, blazing on

Till all their fuel has burned away

Cold and dark as sunless day

Well before the flames go out

The stars keep gleaming free of doubt

 A hope determined to live on

Sure and certain of the dawn

And that even as flame turns earth to ash

Soothing rain puts out the flames and washes ruin well into the past

So the stars shine on

Beacons from the great beyond

Resplendence raining from on high

Lamps suspended in the sky

Flickering against the night

Warding candles: brilliant and bright 

And the earth spins below

While flames raze towns and cities low

As hopes and dreams are set to flame

Starlight shines that dreams are born again

So the stars shine on

Even when their fuel is done

Mirages in the yawning void

That their image might still be enjoyed

Till their end is set on display

The heavens quake and night is turned to day

And the world burns below

But men look to the skies and know:

That even as their tears run dry

When stars collapse their light still does not die

So the stars shine on

Against the black’s rapacious maw

Growing further vast and cold

Too much to be opposed

Still new stars are born

lifeless gas now hope given form

And the world burns below

But men still guard the seeds they sow

That even if those men are lost 

Those yet to come may carry up the cause

So the stars shine on 

Till even nebulae are gone

And empty nothingness abounds

The last bright lights now darkness drowned

The stars shine on, a hope devout

But so do even stars go out

And the world stands still

Frozen over, ash gone chill

But to their lord do men return

For their striving, a light enduring, hopes fulfilled, and dreams well earned