The Boy Who Swallowed Stars

The Boy Who Swallowed Stars

My father hid our yellow stars under his pillow,

a reminder that hiding in the basement favored being outside

wearing them.

Those yellow stars illuminated

my world in the dank cellar.

My father, the storyteller:

Before you were born,

 it was written in the stars your name, Simcha

 flew into your mother’s head

 the moment you breathed air.

Simcha lit up the sky,

stitched together by fate, hope, and circumstance.

Stars,

the tangible yellow ones

and the gaseous ones I imagined in the night sky

became my best company.

At night,

I swallowed each one

devoured the hope of light.

Published in The Stars, Outrider Press, 2018

Performed as micro-play, 2017

Shown in Bear Gallery, Montserrat College of Art, 2017