Starchameleons

A firework bursts overhead like a giant meteor

Dying in exploded shards of light, never

To be seen again, a one-off, a snapshot

Memory, falling forever through centuries.

*

People stand together entranced at the sight,

Their faces painted with the wonder they had

As small children smiling at humorous parents,

Brightened for a split-second, focussed on colour.

*

In this harmony we are one, human but not barbarous,

As children, disinterested in possessions and ambition,

Not forced to atone for today's guilt or tomorrow's

Achievement, wealth and poverty swept aside.

*

But the brief moment ends, and the adult grit

Replaces the childlike wonder and romance

Which crept back so easily in the instant,

Though a residue remains, experience dies hard.

*

Our future glitters ahead like a collection of

Firework fragments, which mirror our innocence,

Dreamily we lie awake at night pondering

Next steps and where they will take us.

*

Stepping into our dreams, we look inward for

Answers, some find confusion and nightmares,

While the enlightened step toward innocence, slowly,

And see in their dreams what existence can be, in unity.

**

**

JRTF

01/04/2015