The Life of a Star
Arvilla Fee

Twinkle, twinkle—
white against a sleeping sky,

giver of wishes,
a song upon the lips of children,

converting hydrogen to helium
your gases burn hotter, brighter;

suspended through the ages;
an observer of mankind,

your heart grows weary
from mistakes never learned,

and yet when your flame expires
you fling parts of yourself

into the black depths of space
so that new light may be born

and children can still make wishes.