Starry Night (poem)

when i wake
here is what unfolds-

a chorus of actors,
all with masks
stand
silhouetted
against a limpid sky.
a few i know,
others know me.

the heavens
wheel behind them.
orion
strikes out
at taurus,
the pleiades flee.

a gold masked actor
blinks,
once,
then turns
to face
the celestial sea.

“stars,” he whispers,
“my eyes
into the ……”

i lean forward
straining
to hear more
but the rest is lost
in the breeze.

now i know
what vincent saw,
but,
he turned my actors
into cypress
and
his was
only
a dream.

pietro ninety seven