my mosaic.

I went on a late night run with an old friend tonight, and we ended up on a dirtmound exploring the sky. our conversation went like this.

myself: “Look, there’s Oriion’s belt. and that’s his dagger. and that one right there? that’s me.”

him: “That’s you, up there?”

m: “Yep. ‘In this world, but not of this world,’ remember?”

h: “Okay, there you are. So that one over there is me.”

m: “Look at you, winking at me from space..”

we laugh as his star flickers.

him: “Did you know that most stars you see are actually—”

me: “..already dead? yeah, by the time it reaches our eyes and we can fully see their light, they’ve burnt out.”

we hear the metaphor, and share it with the crickets for a moment.

h: “Isn’t that all any of us want? to still be light after we’re gone?”

m: “..to leave a glow? even just a tiny gray one, in some massive dark sky. ..just something for people to gaze at. for most people, even if it means burning out while you’re making your way to the front of the sky..”

Makes me wonder how many stars die that were never bright enough to send their light across the sky.

Some people want to be the light you see. Some people want to the light by which you see. If you’d like my honest truth, neither one interests me. The central star of the solar system is the sun; I don’t aim to be a sun, and the moon’s not my goal either. See, something can shed all the light in the sky, but that can all be completely irrelevant if your eyes don’t actually try see what you’re looking at. And as for the kind who wants just to be seen.. I don’t care much for telescopes.

Ultimately, I’m aware of my sky, and I know what I’m made of. That’s all I need, so now, I’m just going to gently burn. I figure shine has it’s way of finding the darkness.

“The Moon Is A Magnet” -Jon Foreman

“Lighthouse” -The Hush Sound

“Staralfur” -Sigur Ros

“Tiny Light” -Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

“Stars” -Switchfoot [had to.]

“Moonshadow” -Cat Stevens