betteroffbad | the stars are not as close as we think they are

the stars are very far away
that is a fact about the stars
nothing in this world is ours
nothing in it's here to stay
a million billion miles from your
obliterated vale of tears
indifferent fires golden as beers
their wholly ignorant light pour
down through the darkness to no end
except as purely accidental
confetti for the sentimental
stars can never be your friend
the way a human being might be
however much their light consoles
certain less physics-minded souls
who walk beneath the vacuum nightly
I think of facts about the stars
when I feel lonely or perverse
I glance up at the universe
from sidewalk or from moving cars
the stars don't care about your poem
about the stars or anything
it's only for ourselves we sing
in this our barely extant home