Flight from the Countryside
World Bank: For the first time in history, more than half of the world’s people live
in cities.
I miss the stars the most.
Not that first twinkling
nursery-rhyme character
wished upon at the bedroom
window in the still-twilight blue.
Not the familiar patterns – imagined
silver dippers and rescued sisters outlined
in connect-the-dots on charcoal skies.
Not even Perseid’s meteors – August nights
on a blanket in the back yard, wondering
which way to turn to catch
the next stolen kiss.
But, the unbounded arch of the Milky Way –
its band of scattered moon-dust
spilling over me the night
the peepers announced spring.
These riches were in our grasp –
a trillion diamonds
bequeathed rom heaven.
And we left it all behind.
Appeared in Bloodroot Literary Magazine, 2013
© Kathleen M Quinlan
World Bank: For the first time in history, more than half of the world’s people live
in cities.
I miss the stars the most.
Not that first twinkling
nursery-rhyme character
wished upon at the bedroom
window in the still-twilight blue.
Not the familiar patterns – imagined
silver dippers and rescued sisters outlined
in connect-the-dots on charcoal skies.
Not even Perseid’s meteors – August nights
on a blanket in the back yard, wondering
which way to turn to catch
the next stolen kiss.
But, the unbounded arch of the Milky Way –
its band of scattered moon-dust
spilling over me the night
the peepers announced spring.
These riches were in our grasp –
a trillion diamonds
bequeathed rom heaven.
And we left it all behind.
Appeared in Bloodroot Literary Magazine, 2013
© Kathleen M Quinlan
