Eternal Vision
The not quite young man who has more questions than
Thoughts
Slipped out the back door of his house
On a crisp November night
Heading for the open field
He had dressed by the night light in his room
Double socking his feet so he wouldn't make a
Noise
Picking up his pre-packed backpack and other things he need
Listening to the silence of the house
Hearing his mother snore was a good sign
He walked quietly down the stairs avoiding the creaking step
Through the kitchen and into the mud room
He put on his heavy jacket and boots
His mother would be disappointed that he'd not worn a hat
Making sure to not let the back door slam
And he was gone
He walked across the heavily dewed grass that would be
Crunchy in few hours from the first frost
The clear cold night was alight with stars
He went sideways through the break in the fence
Making sure not to scrape his tripod
The field opened before him like his future
He spread his blanket on the hard ground
Matting down the wet grasses
In little time he had the tripod set up and mounted
His telescope
Using his flashlight to only get out his star book
There was no other light except from the sky
He could see the moisture from his breath hanging
In the air a moment before it became part of the atmosphere
Mixing with other breaths that had come before him
He fixed his glass on the galaxies
Looking at time
Light struck his eyes that had been traveling before
The first man struck another with a rock
Starting long before he would think about girls
As he focused on Andromeda he knew that the light
From the far side of the galaxy had traveled billions of light years
And its light was that much older than the near side
Which had traveled billions of light years to his eye
The oldest light would be from before the earth was formed
But it wasn't just distant light that he looked for
He peered into the darkness of the void
He saw the spaces between the stars
Watching the nothingness was dizzying
He'd read of dark matter and wasn't sure what it meant
Knowing nothing is there and understanding it all
Was not quite in his grasp yet
He looked away from the eyepiece and just laid down
On his back
Like boys and men and girls and women before
He marveled at the lights as they did their slow dance
Across the heavens
Moments, hours passed, the light was time
He focused back through the milky way to what was beyond
"I knew that you'd be out here"
He jumped through his thoughts
"I think that it's time to come in now"
He left his bedroom door open and his mom had seen his night light
She knew he'd taken to the field
And stood with a smile of calm recognition
Star gazing was over this eve
They crunched as they walked back to house
With her arm around his shoulders
He told her that he'd watched time
And the name of the stars he'd seen that night
He yawned
She nodded
"Where is your hat?"
"Now try and get some sleep" was her advice as she hung up his coat
When he got up to bed
He opened his curtain
And fell asleep as he watched the cosmic dance