Absent Star Poem by Janet Budd

It is not there, this star I watch tonight.
Neither was it, when Mesopotamian sages
Scored clay tablets with epic myths of time.

However much it isn't there, my star inspires;
Alters night to a panoramic screen
Where gods and fancies dance out mystic lives.

And though it is not there, this star provides
A measure, creates angles on tangential planes
Which map the secrets of its world and mine.

This star I watch, bright lighthouse in the skies;
Guides migrating birds, goads adventurous hearts,
Directly beams its rays into my eyes.

My absent soaring star, it has not died.
For in my mortal head spin images;
Tales born to life, from its immortal flight.

Oh speeding dart, oh piercing shaft of light,
Shall I, like you, sustain when I am gone?
Will my love radiate beyond my life?