Love and Beauty

Skipping Stars

There's a calm at the edge of the pond,

Just below the stars I wish upon.

I wish and I wish,

To the frogs and the fish,

That there come a day

When I can skip the stars away.

So here I wish, once again;

This time I lift up my chin,

And...pffff, I blow—and away they go! :

Wishes the color of snow,

Drifting toward cotton-candy skies,

Floating high—oh! so high.

Underneath the twinkle of twilight:

Orange and yellow and bright as highlights,

I skip a skinny stone,

Aiming for a space unknown,

And I begin to think:

I'll be skipping stars in a blink.

I begin to count 'em:

One by one, lighting the sky around them.

Meanwhile, far-far below,

The pond begins to glow,

Illuminating tadpoles,

Who, by the thousands, swim to their holes.

Frogs cackle and croak,

On lily pads they float;

The reeds swivel and dance,

Pulling me into a trance.

—When suddenly I see,

A star, standing in front of me.

In her hand she grasps a rock;

She sk-skips it over the dock;

It jumps past the large-mouthed bass,

Over the wet, green-growing grass,

And splat! right into the murky moss:

Far away—and way-way across.

You look over and capture my eyes,

Heart flying faster than dragonflies,

And—oh! how I feel a feeling unknown;

It's one I'd like to call my own.

So, while the moon is shining bright,

I'll skip stars with you tonight.