Lying in the Hammock

I’m lying in the hammock tonight,

Rocking gently back and forth

Beneath the cloudless sky.

The crickets try to sing me to sleep

But my mind is too full of restless scheming

For me to even close my eyes.

Instead, they dart from star to star

Which, I think, are not

The souls of long-dead kings

Or ancient gods.

They are moments I have yet to live,
Harbingers to a distant fate
On the other side of time.

One star, near the apex of the sky,

Shines especially bright tonight.

This star is a moment I long for
More than all the rest.

And yet, perhaps, this light,

Which seems so distant,

Is here with me, now,

And every wish I’ve ever made,

Every prayer I’ve sent to God

Is being answered by this light.

This star at the apex of the sky

Is the moment I am living, now.

The hammock rocks beneath me

And I close my eyes.

The light of the star lingers in my mind

And soon I find myself sinking

Into the silver ocean of the moon.