Star-rise. I wake in arms of amber light,
Awash in swiftly dreaming galaxies.
I turn, I yawn, a wayward, drowsy sprite
Untempered by dying vagaries.
Wrap me instead in lazy gleam of quasar,
In the shimmering dust of a thousand suns:
come alive, Jong¹, Pari², Biduk³, Bintang Tujuh⁴.
Come alive, as the glimmering tides become one
Constellation; never lost, nor consumed
But turned to iridescent astral flame.
Resplendent in amaranthine hue,
reveal to me at last heaven and all its names –

And liberate me from fear, mercurial hair still astray
as forgotten starshine at last becomes dawning, never-ending day.

¹ The Chinese Junk, a constellation known locally in the Malayan Peninsula.
² The Stingray, a constellation known locally in the Malayan Peninsula.
³ The Paddle-boat, a constellation known locally in the Malayan Peninsula.
⁴ The Pleiades star cluster, as known locally in Malayan Peninsula.

© 2023 Kevin Martens Wong