Here, I am in a land that is both strange and familiar. During the day I know where things are and how to get from one place to the next. I have charted out each landmark relative to the other landmarks. They do not have fixed positions in my mind. I do not have a larger context to place them nor myself in. North becomes whatever direction I happen to be facing.
Without the gravity of Lake Ontario's shoreline or a known slope of the land, I cannot fathom where north must be. Only the position of the sun tells me, but I ignore it because what it is telling me does not make sense.
Tonight I walked at night and looked up at the stars. I remeber you once saying something about being under the same sky - and I think of you. I can only see the brightest of stars. They should be familiar, but they seem so foreign. It isn't until I find the big dipper that I can orient the world and make sense of where I am standing.
I wondered if you might be looking at the same stars at the same time... For you, there would be so many more to look at... Like salt scattered on a slate floor. Would you see the band of the Milky Way stretched across the sky? Would you be lucky enough to catch a shooting star? Or follow the path of a satellite as it passed overhead?
I will not see them here in this strange land - but I have seen them - and can imagine you. I turn to my new found west - to where you are, wondering all these things and more. I have tried to not miss you, but the stars have brought you to me.
Without the gravity of Lake Ontario's shoreline or a known slope of the land, I cannot fathom where north must be. Only the position of the sun tells me, but I ignore it because what it is telling me does not make sense.
Tonight I walked at night and looked up at the stars. I remeber you once saying something about being under the same sky - and I think of you. I can only see the brightest of stars. They should be familiar, but they seem so foreign. It isn't until I find the big dipper that I can orient the world and make sense of where I am standing.
I wondered if you might be looking at the same stars at the same time... For you, there would be so many more to look at... Like salt scattered on a slate floor. Would you see the band of the Milky Way stretched across the sky? Would you be lucky enough to catch a shooting star? Or follow the path of a satellite as it passed overhead?
I will not see them here in this strange land - but I have seen them - and can imagine you. I turn to my new found west - to where you are, wondering all these things and more. I have tried to not miss you, but the stars have brought you to me.
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