seeing stars

i do see stars from this home finally

for months, now, the light pollution

and industrial smoke plus Oregon mist clouds have colored my night sky

blocking all but insistent planets

until early this morning – not much

past midnight – faint stars beckoned

and the shoulders and dim belt –

but no dagger - of Orion

so glad to see heaven’s lights

but sad to remember just decades

ago when the Milky Way was a bright

path above, paralleling my driveway

my stars

so pretty, the brilliance hovering

above the town in the valley

so sad, the light pollution hovering

over the town in the valley

obscure reality

 night sky, even miles from the city

more gray than black

brilliant stars still insist on being seen

but many of their apparent companions

are faded by our neon and LED and arc lights while we try to keep dark reality,

as we try with old age, at bay