Those Darker Nights

We do not see such things as signs.
We do not look up to see the sky,
to choose foretellings of catastrophe
from the movements within the spheres.

In our heavens, we see only distances
not the fates of lovers, or of nations.
We will not allow ourselves to be
so easily led to a saviour this time.

We will watch the star, noting where it falls
knowing we do not need saving
not by a fallen star, or a tired god
long since outworn and out-lived.

That can offer nothing but past mistakes
for us to fail to learn from, and lies
told as morality by self-serving fools
who wish to keep the darkness

of superstition and dread over our heads
instead of the infinite wonders
of a real universe of distant stars
promising us far more than mere gods.