I saw Polaris hanging in the black and turned

My head to find the safety promised by that star.

I followed day and night, and with the days I learned

To trust this light that beckoned to me from afar,

Illuminating every detail with its light.

Like yeast in bread, the light lived, grew, and filled my heart;

This star was every star that ever shone at night

And more, was every sun and moon, light without start

Then, suddenly the star was there no more, just night.

Directionless, I couldn’t tell the days apart

Nor tell the ocean’s oily blackness from the sky.

Unmanned, I cried to God to heal my outraged sight,

But, without stars, the dark defies the sailor’s art.

What light will ever guide this dark, occluded eye?