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.