*

I too had swallowed a star :a cry
seen only at night and this small room
sits by its window

-- you can hear the wall
holding back the light almost till morning
-- in time your hand loses interest
opens, aches to be left alone
and the star you know is there
-- it's been so long, it must be shabby
-- offer it something, slowly
and not lose the way -- in my jaws

one cry stays fixed -- no other star
is guided by the dead
kept from falling too fast
and in my breathing where you belong.

-- Simon Perchik