The Night of Paper Stars
A lantern burns in the sky
A lonely light in the shadow of the new moon
The night holds open an unmarked dark
Match strikes rasp from the ground below
Paper vessels rise from a mirror-still lake
Reflections grow smaller as the lanterns ascend
In the sky, fragments of a shattered star burn
A lantern burns in the sky, met by shattered fragments
A fixed flame in the crescent moon’s hesitance
Some scattered shards begin to answer
Finding their place in the warm night’s breeze
On the night of paper stars, new constellations form
A lantern burns in the sky, surrounded by new constellations
Shapes gather in the half moon’s glow
A gilded sky for the ones light enough to stay
But others slip away, sputtering as they fall
Briefly getting brighter as their reflections on the surface grow
It swallows light, not even smoke breaks the surface
In the water, shards of the star go out
A lantern burns in the sky, alone among the gaps
Each absence in the sky exposed by the waxing moon
The first fragment weakens and dims
Its rise becomes hesitant, bending towards the lake
Yet this most brilliant fragment of a star refuses to fall
A lantern burns in the sky, refusing to fall
The new constellations outshine the full moon
Darkness gathers where fallen stars once shone
A rasp sounds again from the ground below
New lanterns rise where the sky has thinned
Their light gathers, splits, and gathers again
And lanterns still burn on the night of paper stars
Notes:
I’d especially appreciate blind interpretations of what the poem seems to be about. I’m also looking for feedback on whether the repeated lantern structure, moon phases, and ending work, or if they start to feel too repetitive. I have my own meaning behind it, but I left it abstract on purpose, so I’m curious what other people take from it.
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