The Star
The star moved without
hesitation across the black sky splintering fragments of sharp light down onto
the city skyline.
The light, shed in pulses of
shimmering strands, fell across the stone streets and alleys of the city
centre.
The star had no memory of the
past, no recollection of previous skies or horizons.
The star existed in a shining
immediacy moving in between the night clouds and the faraway planets.
Down in the city most rooms
and spaces were closed in shadows and darkness. The stone streets were silent
and empty lit here and there by bursts of moonlight.
The star never looked back,
never considered the history of the city. The star was separate and alone
gleaming in crystal at the edge of the night.
In the centre of the city lay
a small park. The trees and flowers were unmoving and calm in the still of the
night. Looking up one young flower noticed the movement of the star and was
intrigued. The flower stared up into the night sky as the star danced in
sparkling light.
The flower had seen the
illumination of the moon before but this was the first occasion that she had
seen a moving star.
The flower whispered to her
closest friend,
“There is a white flower
blooming in the dark sky!”
The flower’s friend sighed
and spoke,
”Perhaps this moving light is
an associate of the moon. Both are white and scare the dark with their light”.
It seemed a logical
reflection.
The tree nearest the flowers
spoke:
“That is a star falling from
the edge of the world”
he said with an aloof air.
Soon crows watching from the
rooftops saw the falling star.
“This could be an omen” the
chief crow said.
The star was spinning and
accelerating streaming with white light.
Beyond the city limit an old
train moved out of the grey station. It rocked along the tracks as it moved
into the silent countryside.
The star cascaded into the
distance watched by black street cats and crows alike.
In the forest an owl flew up
toward the star catching a particle of light on the tips of its brown wings.
The wing turned white with starlight and the owl flew over the forest trees
sprinkling the pale light down over the black branches.
Deep in the forest a jaguar
looked up at the owl and saw the streaks of light descending on to trees. The
jaguar moved across the forest floor staring upward. The owl called out and the
jaguar growled to herself. The jaguar moved between deep shadows and her eyes
shone black.
Soon the forest was alive
with new light, new shadows that hinted at the shape of men and women. The
figures remained slivery and vague beside the trees and flowers. The figures
had a ghostly presence like mist moving in the silence of the trees. The new
people were formed of light from the falling star. They did not speak or breath
but waited for the dawn in stillness.
The star continued to fall,
lighting up the world with innocent, white sparks full of promises
and dreams.
Light falling to the forest
floor created more and more shapes and forms.
Soon white, icy shapes became
ghostly wild animals and birds.
Pale birds and wild cats
moved beneath the shadows of the forest.
Caves and secret places were
touched by new outlines of light. Jewels gleamed and stones shone as they were
encountered the new creatures. Spiders lying on sparkling webs crawled toward
the new creatures. Emerald green snakes
twisting in the depths of the darkest caves emerged to adore the new creatures.
Cast in light new crows, new owls flew into the night sky.
Everywhere in the world there
was movement and gleaming white distances emerged.
The world of night was lit up
by these strange forms and was never the same again.
Sadly the world was more
concerned with the news of war and profit, the endless cruel streets made of
money and steel, the surge to work and the relentless darkness of tomorrow.
Chris Bird 2017
