The Language of Stars Quotes

“Bearings

You are my dear compass,
who knows no way but true,
so when I'm lost and drifting,
I find myself in you.

Yet when I ask you, fearful,
if I should set you free,
imagine my surprise to hear
you take your north from me.”
― Louise Hawes, The Language of Stars

“Lamium

Migraine dreams, jagged seams,
A badge of love and pain.
Or dreamy eyes, sleepy eyes,
Drooping, closing, losing light.
Packages scattered under the tree,
Some torn open, some tied tight.

Is there a heartbeat in those purple veins?
Are those embryos or mouths or rosary beads?
The color of my first dress, gathered with love,
Fairy cups stirred with blades of grass,
notes clustered on a windy score,
Three blooms, three friends, alas!

Grape flowers, cloud flowers, love flowers,
Paper parasols upside down, a butterfly herd
Stopped to rest by a deep green pool.
Petals small as a child's tears good-bye,
Dropped stitches everywhere
From a blanket the color of sky.”
― Louise Hawes, The Language of Stars

“How long would our poem be?
How much would it weigh?
The first verse would be yours, of course−
Age before beauty, you'd say.

You would not rush so much as crest,
a wave that spreads and breaks
across the eyes and ears to fill
some deeper, inner space.

The next verse would be mine,
self-conscious, yes, it's true,
and full of fits and starts
but bits of music too.

Would we share some lines then,
just we two?
Here's a place for my words;
here, only yours will do,

And would it matter, really,
after all is said and done,
who made which piece of glory?
Who, this moon? Who, that sun?

The pen drops from my hand,
but there's still more to say.
So I must write our final line,
which is simply
stay.”
― Louise Hawes, The Language of Stars

“Safe Deposit

I thought that I could keep it−
the light on the running tide,
how your eyes give you away
no matter what you hide.

I thought that I could hold it−
the forest along the sand,
your neck bones like pearls
underneath my hand.

But time's school has taught me
how petals brown and die.
There's no saving pleasure.
Don't try. Don't try.”
― Louise Hawes, The Language of Stars

“For Margaret

Some people laugh
ha-ha-ha.
Other people put
their hands on their mouths
he-he-he.
In the department stores
Santa laughs
ho-ho-ho.
But this girl I know−
okay, this girl I'm crazy for
laughs like an envelope
tearing open and good stuff
spilling out.”
― Louise Hawes, The Language of Stars

“It was like diving into winter waves. "I can't," I told him.
"Why not?"
"Because I need to find out who I am by myself before I can be with anyone else.”
― Louise Hawes, The Language of Stars