Star-struck

Surrounded by night’s dark embrace

With humid wind blowing in my face

I stood there, frozen in place

Wishing that time would stand still too.

Vast expanse of water yawned below me

Swallowing light with each ripple

Solitude as far as my eye could see

Empty bridge on both sides and me in the middle.

Sky and offing blurred together

Enclosing me in a pitch-black bubble

Where the distant city lights did not belong

And neither did the hustle and bustle.

There were no cemented barriers in between

Me and the night sky, no lush trees blocking my view

No distracting sights and sounds to tear my attention away

From the spectacular scene on display.

It was just the star-spangled night sky

The ebony sea below me

The constant wind swallowing all sound

And my insignificant little self, astound.

Clear from clouds and the overpowering moon

The sky was a splendid sight to behold

I saw shades of pink, purple, red, maroon

Streaks of blue, white, even gold

Distant stars, nebulae and more

Enmeshed in a pattern too complicated to perceive

A single arm of the milky way stretched across the sky

Painted perfectly over the bridge, glorious in my eye.

I craned my head up, greedily drinking in the sight

Of magnificent, mythical, eternal constellations

Which filled me with life and unexplainable delight.

The sky cast a spell over me that moment

And I was powerless to stop it, neither did I want to

With me as the only victim, its power was too potent

I was helpless, time stopped as I fell into a trance

Trapped in ethereal magic I couldn’t undo.

The cold gaze of the stars froze me into place

Lofty, bewitching and frigid in their grace

It was powerful sorcery indeed, it tugged at my heartstrings

And tore a piece of my soul into its embrace.

Even as the wind battered at my clothes and hair

And my fingers turned numb with cold, I stood there

Staring wide-eyed at the stellar kaleidoscope

That shimmered back down, beautiful

In its indiscernible celestial patterns.

Reality and time slowing seeped into the enchanted bubble

And touched me quite insistently, breaking the spell

I walked away from there while the wind blew away my tears

My heart wrenched painfully; I couldn’t bear to say farewell.

Even as time wore me down, swept me further away

From the intangible enchantment cast on me that day

I never truly recovered, I was still bound and under its sway

It lingered in my spirit, a faint, bittersweet torment.

Every time I close my eyes, longing to be whole

My soul connects to the fragment left behind

And I am transported back there, into the enchanted bubble

Where the night sky and my soul intertwined.