Starstruck

Once you turn your face heavenwards;

To engage in daily conversation

that is, to return to Earth,

merits a physical un-tilting of the head; from the angled

to the staid, erect position, eyes intently glazed over.

Perhaps, you have successfully torn your gaze from the stars

 but your mind, your heart, your soul?

Return to Earth means descending

from a parallel world, through multiple dimensions,

time vortices and black holes.

you are hovering in space, surrounded by the background

radiation from the big bang, studying

the remains of the creation of the universe.

Far out of range.

Even traveling at the speed of light you

cannot reach in a lifetime.

Before you knew, you lived here –

you were are part of it.

Now, they say you are out of touch with the world.

Rather you are very much in touch with the world

as something external to yourself.  It is only a speck of

stardust overshadowed by the remnants of its creator.

Among the millions of objects you study

it is a vantage point. Not a microcosm.

Incomprehensibly, you are here.  But only physically.

Therefore as you hear with feigned interest

these words, these various frequencies of sound waves

that make your ear twitch irksomely

your lips forcing itself into a mechanical smile

you cannot help being struck by the triviality of it all.

Imagine, years later, returning to that state of mind

you possessed before you experienced this – love.

The very suggestion of return seems absurd.

You shudder at retirement.