The darkness which surrounds us
completely bares our soul.
Paul Valéry
I wasn’t yet born when Paul Valéry
wrote about the effects of starlight
on people,
Yet I too, feel
strangely simplified.
Tonight, the few
glints between cloud
and shadow
above the buildings
and billboards
on the outskirts of Bangkok
make me homesick
for a fireplace
by a snow-frosted pond
anywhere
where they still exist and
you can still see stars.



Comment early, comment often, keep it civil: