Star Journeys: Mundana Poem by elysabeth faslund

What take we back from the stars...
One moment in our eyes,
Trillions of years to light
Our sight...
Red shift, Blue shift...
They speed to us, or away.

We are Time's children,
Who on a July night, catch them in jars.
We call them 'fireflies'.
We tell children to hold them carefully.
They are delicate.

Then, look up, amazed at
Hydrogen implosions, explosions...
Larger than our Milky Way...
Coalescing unknown gases
Into an infant star...

Gaze down at the firefly,
Remember a grandmother,
Pet the dog...
And know they are
The stuff of stars...
One moment in our eyes.