Pieces of the Galaxy
by: Mike Cooper

As a distant sun

Floods my mind

With fading rays bound for the Pacific

Crickets begin to inspire the night

With unintended beauty

I stare at dancing colors

Shadows dampening the sky

And wonder

Wonder how insignificant the stars must feel

Blanketing a sky too vast to cover

Falling to have someone waste their wishes

On something they will never need

It is almost too easy to play the role of the pessimist

With constellations mapping out a path of uncertainty

Over a void that conceals most of our light

But is it really so hard to put the pieces together?

To squint hard enough to follow Orion’s Belt?

Not with motivation

Not with gravity pulling me through

Sometimes a hand to hold isn’t so cliché

And another heart isn’t so insignificant

I can’t help but think that as long as her eyes continue to shine

The Big Dipper won’t be so hard to point out

And how silly it would be to wish on shooting stars alone

When the inspiration you need to get you through the day

Isn’t part of the colors, but is lying right there beside you