First The Story, Then The Stars, Einstein!

When the night sky was black,
flat, desolate as coal dust,

save for a gnomish moon,
a storyteller—brash!—

heard his daughter ask
for something more

upon which to aim her hopes,
beyond this one soft lamp.

“Firelight in snow!”
“Ah,” he said, “First,

"we spin a tale...
Once upon a time,

"a reckless boy parted
on a dangerous journey

"so deep into this mine,
his devil dared not go.

"Our hero went so far,
beyond all best advice,

"to find cave walls frozen
in blue diamonds beating

"out their own light.
He longed to share

"what lies so deep beneath.
Then, as sudden as desire

"serves as natural law,
this wild herd of sparks

"shattered from the ice,
took flight, then launched

"themselves forever up
into the roof of night!"

The world changes
as everybody sleeps,

and realigns with myth,
so when the next sun

sunk to memory, there
shined the father’s gift,

a billion billion ways
for a little girl to wish.