Vermont Night

April 12, 2025

Vermont Night

“If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Somewhere outside of Montpelier
miles from the lights of town
with autumn approaching
but not yet
I stand under the night sky
and gaze up.
Such a simple act
raising my face to night
my sight to light
after light after light
so many stars that the sky
shimmers in its own
vastness. And in my own
smallness,
I wonder about our hubris
when we blocked out
the light and about how different
this present world would be
with its wars and divisions
its assaults upon itself
if we would
each night
raise our faces
to witness the stars
the multitude of
suns shining down
on a fractured world
miles from the light.

(c) Rosemary McMahan

Photo: Unsplash