The Luniferous Gazette #14: Here Are Only Stars

~*~ 

Here are only stars

There are no dandelions

The trees were saying.

As someone who is wont to meander into purple prose, I don’t write haiku often as I find them challenging to truly ink what I wish in a format of such compact elegance. However, this little poem from Tangible Creatures is one of my favorite attempts at capturing a single idea in a 5-7-5 syllabic structure. 

 

I wrote it in answer to a call for haiku submissions years ago, and while the poem was rejected, sometimes I find myself repeating it softly like a mantra of sorts—

Here are only stars . . .  

 

For like the shadow dapple of light on leaf, our perception can suddenly shift. A seemingly dull reality startles our eyes with hidden gleam—

There are no dandelions
The trees were saying . . . 

And so a humble weed may reveal an innate star, moon, and sun bound together in one, wondrous lifeform. A singular timespan in “The Teeth of the Lion!”

Dandelions have been alternately used, prized, discarded and despised by the human species for thousands of years. Yet they persist despite our various opinions of their worth, radiant in their own vivid purpose. 

As a dear friend recently reminded me, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” The wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt blooms boldly in the dandelion. 

I would live with such stubborn rays of courage spilling from my being and escaping my fear-bound silhouette. What a thing to be free as a filament! Even a quavering wish seed dares to dream sometimes, too. 

*Fantastic wallpaper from our favorite brunch place that has me rethinking my dislike of such adornment.

 ~*~ 

Thanks for reading! If you'd like my free newsletter dropped into your inbox every Wednesday,
please subscribe to my Substack account.