The First Star in the Sky – A Poem

It’s hard to believe

that you’re gone.

When I was younger,

we met by chance

and the connection was immediate.

Lost in the world,

you were an island of calm.

You taught me what it was

to be loved

for who I was,

not for what I wished to be.

You taught me that love,

this insurmountable emotion,

could be so simple.

You were the first man

to tell me they loved me.

Though whole lifetimes have passed

and neither of us is the same

as we once were,

there was still a little star within me

that I carried for you,

kept safe even after all this time.

You never forget your first love

and you were the standard

with which I measured everyone

that came after.

When I learned that you were gone,

that your light had left this world,

I went back to that island

that I had shared with you,

just for a moment.

You were waiting for me.

I was struck by how happy you looked.

You began to fade

into the night and I knew

that you had been waiting for me.

I watched as the outline of you

began to slowly seep into the night

and I walked away from that island,

toward the life I have now,

one in which I live surrounded

by more love than I ever thought possible.

Looking up at the night sky,

I saw the stars and I know what

needed to be done.

I took that kernel of light

that I have been carrying within me.

I hold it up to the darkened sky

in my cupped hands and I watched

as it glowed brighter just for a moment.

I knew that was you saying goodbye to me.

I let you go and watched as

the night sky

welcomed you home.