Stars

American Poetry Review, The, Jan/Feb 2001 by Gluck, Louise

Stars

I'm awake, I am in the world--

I expect

no further assurance.

No protection, no promise.

Solace of the night sky;

the hardly moving

face of the dock.

I'm alone-all

my riches surround me.

I have a bed, a room.

I have a bed, a vase

of flowers beside it.

And a nightlight, a book.

I'm awake; I am safe.

The darkness like a shield, the dreams

put off, maybe

vanished forever.

Add the day

the unsatisfying morning that says

I am your future,

here is your cargo of sorrow:

Do you reject me? Do you mean

to send me away because I am not

full, in your word,

because you see

the black shape already implicit?

I will never be banished. I am the light,

your personal anguish and humiliation.

Do you dare

send me away as though

you were waiting for something better?

There is no better.

Only (for a short space)

the night sky like

a quarantine that sets you

apart from your task.

Only (softly, fiercely)

the stars shining. Here,

in the room, the bedroom.

Saying I was brave, I resisted,

I set myself on fire.