Conversations with a Dying Star

I spoke tonight to a dying star, A flicker frail in endless skies. It burned with all it ever was, A lantern trembling as it dies. I spoke to fire that once was flame, To ancient light now burning thin. I spoke to hours that bore no name, To distant worlds I’ll never win. I asked it how it kept its glow, I asked it why it shone so bright. I asked it what it means to go, To fade into the velvet night. It whispered through the silver air, It whispered with a voice of gold. It whispered though it was not there, It whispered stories never told. It said to burn until you break, It said to shine despite the fall. It said to give more than you take, To risk the heart, to give it all. I watched it flicker, soft and far, I watched it vanish without sound. I watched the dark replace the star, Yet somehow light still lingered round. And now I burn because it burned, And now I shine because it shone. And now I rise though I have learned That even dying stars live on.