Poem Corner: I’m a Lonely Star – New

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On some nights

rarely to be seen,

I’m a lonely star.

I come and go as 

if in a dream. 

Perhaps I am a dream. 

 

At twilight or on a misty night, 

I’m so far away I cannot be found

and I question my own existence. 

Perhaps, I’ve dreamed myself.

 

But on rare nights, I’ve heard reports

my weakened light can be detected

though dimly, quietly and faintly, high 

in some lost part of the cool night sky.

 

What do people think, when out 

of the corner of their eye they catch 

my softly glowing star and discover 

this lightly shining object, though 

almost gone and wonder what it is.

 

To answer, I’d have to say, it’s me! 

But why would I decide to write a poem 

about a lonely star, lost in trillions of 

others in a rarely searched nighttime sky?

 

 

The title is I’m a Lonely Star because 

I’m the lonely person caught in the middle 

of a worldwide, mortal pandemic with 

people dying in record numbers. 

 

The words highly contagious have reached a new meaning. I understand the Coronavirus is ten times more contagious than germs of other flu’s. Micro-organisms spread by close proximity and coughing. 

 

Best avoidance is wearing a mask and maintaining six feet of social distancing. 

All concert halls, auditoriums, stadiums, schools, restaurants, parties and places 

of close indoor circulation are banned.

 

Perhaps if I really were a lonely star lost in 

the magnitude of some great cosmos and far from 

the  possibility of contamination, I’d be better 

able to delight in omnipresent miracles.

 

—Doug Rucker

 

As quarantine and self-isolation continues, we have begun to notice an uptick in poetry submissions. We always accept poems for consideration and welcome our readers to share their contributions.

If you are interested in submitting a poem for possible inclusion in The Malibu Times’ print edition, you may do so by emailing it to editorial@malibutimes.com or mailing it to The Malibu Times office at 3864 Las Flores Canyon Road.