Wishing on Stars

A poem by Loretta Strharsky

“When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are…”

Hey, Jiminy Cricket,

Remember when I sang that song

To myself, too self-conscious to sing it out loud?

Did I really think dreams came true?

Or did I know it was it just fanciful pretending?

I pretend a little girl now, elbows on the window ledge,

Chin braced by my hands

I watch as a sliver moon barely clears my neighbor’s frosted roof top

Breaking through a halo of cotton candy clouds.

I wait for the first star to rise in anticipation

Of come true wishes

“If your heart is in your dreams
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do.”

Then, with no direction required, the fine film of fingerling clouds dissipates.

The eastern sky from my window becomes a dramatic stage

Darker than hot chocolate, no marshmallows, thank you.

Seemingly all at once constellations populate the heavens

Unnamed stars stand at attention

A few grace the darkness brighter than the others.

If there is more than one first star, then what?

Are they all first stars?

I let first star wishes scatter through the sky

Bright, bold,

Waiting for dreams to unfold.

“Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true”

12/07/2021

Voltaire: The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor