The Stars Which Shine So Brightly

As I gaze into your eyes divine, with your spirit, life, and zeal they shine;
Those stars which shine so brightly spark a kindred flame in mine.

As we gaze out across the heavens and trace how the stars aligned,
That star which shines so brightly is the home I’d like to find.

We’ve seen the many messages of stars well-known that shine,
Which tell of new horizons and of worlds not in decline.

Before we go, I kneel down, and offer up to you a ring.
Will you be my star which shines brightly? Yes, it seems you sing.

We enter flying vehicles of metal, glass, and climb
Until the air is far too thin — space is not this ship’s design.

To now escape the atmosphere, a smaller craft we use:
Behind us shines so brightly, a star of burning rocket plumes.

Now under us, the sea and clouds we’ve known for all our lives;
That star which shines so brightly, on their radiant sunset shines.

At dawn and dusk we see the sun; its light glares in, between
This station, shielding us by day, and earth, our sky does seem.

This station speeds across Earth’s sky, neither falls nor breaks away;
The balance of its speed and weight keeps its orbit from decay.

Now a larger ship will be our home for years we will not know;
That star which shines so brightly now attaches to our hull.

This vessel is no rocket; it spews no burnt fuel aft.
A star which shines so brightly, trapped within it makes it fast.

Before we leave for distant stars, we've a semi-local port,
Where Saturn's rings we'll see up close; ships of this design are short.

But here we find a tragedy, and find we must compete.
To save all those now stranded here, we would surely need a fleet.

We must be very quiet, for those men are drawing near.
I'm certain that they'd kill us, and they'll find us of they hear.

If it's us or them, I'd rather live to see another day,
But I'd much prefer we could combine, and find a better way.

In this struggle, are we winning? Can we ever really win?
For even if a victory, we've already lost so many men!

When this battle had concluded, what will keep me up at night
Is not: Were we defeated? But: Were we fighting for the right?

We take more passengers than planned with us away,
And leave behind provisions, for those who choose to stay.

We submerge ourselves completely; breathe it in, an act of faith;
But we won't drown: This liquid has what we need to travel safe.

As we slumber through the years of flight we leave all we’ve ever known,
And that star which shone so brightly in the daytime of our home.

We wake so soon our journey seemed to take perhaps a day,
But in that time our love ones, left behind, have passed away.

Our new star shines so brightly, its radiation strong.
Could it be too much for us? Can we live here very long?

Perhaps we should have slumbered on, and save ourselves these famines,
For of the food we had for now, insects have eaten half the rations.

We've traveled far with little food, the plan to hibernate,
But now we must prepare to land. Here: You eat my plate.

As we descend to our new home a ceramic shields protects
And now this gliding star shines bright above our new prospects.

We find our new home frigid, but the atmosphere is pure;
It will keep out the harmful rays of our new star, bright and sure.

A miracle, it seems to me: We find we're not alone!
We find here vegetation, and furry beasts in our new home.

We try to tread quite lightly, while we learn about what's here.
We surely would have perished soon without this biosphere.

We're working hard. I've crushed my thumb, but offer up no screams.
This feeling that I have instead: Is it shock? It senseless seems.

In course now I've recovered. I've still use of my thumb.
But a scar beneath my thumbnail is like the flares of our new sun.

I know you wanted children, but I have to wonder now:
Here we have no hospital; I want to help, but don't know how.

Could I have brought you all this way, to meet a young demise?
As you suffer through this painful night, will you see the next sunrise?

---

Thou fool, this dream of thine, to move out, across the stars,
Makes no difference in my love of thee; who cares if Earth or Mars?

All life is born in peril; there’s no place truely safe.
To be with thee, I’ve come so far; I’ve no fear left of space.

My star which shines so brightly is this stone upon my finger,
Not for itself; its greatest worth is that thou wert its bringer.

'Tis true we've not the doctors that we might have had on Earth,
But it's hardly modern medicine that designed how women birth.

There's risk, for sure; it's dangerous. But we must trust nature's hand.
How else can we continue to spread out across this land?

This risk I bear most eagerly, though thou fear I’ll lose my life;
For we’ll not live forever, save in these I bear thee as thy wife.

If we grow old together, how we’ll see this township grow!
But if not, in these, our children, is a star that’s me also.