“ad astra per aspera” - to the stars through hardship
Recently, there was an episode of Star Trek Strange New Worlds that stirred me so deeply that I reached out to some wonderful friends, Sharifa and Nya, to see if we could collaborate to explore some of the depths of what it means to reach for the stars through hardship. The episode in reference was so beautiful as the main character Una, talked about what salvation the stars held for her, and the journey to rebirth. She knew that journeying to the stars would allow her to leave her life of hardship behind. And so, for the next three Fridays we will release a series of poems on struggle, birth, and rebirth with the stars in mind. I hope you are able to sit with our poetry and cultivate your own wonder, awe, and thought. Bless ya’ll.
*This set of poems is on “struggle”
And There Was Evening and There Was Morning—The First Day
by
Yeshua began his days swaddled in the darkness of Mary’s womb
Birthed into the night air
Heralded by a constellation of the heavenly host
An echo of creation’s genesis
When God made the evening and the morning
The first day
God made the night go first
Swaddled the fresh world in velvet luminosity
Shushed and brooded over by the Spirit
And yet we struggle against the night
Reject her call to rest
Obscure the wonder of stars with artificial light
No longer blanketed in hushed wonder
We colonize the dark spaces all the while pondering
The genesis of our restlessness and dragging
There’s a better way
Let the twinkling stars be our night light
Submit ourselves in velvet of dark rest
Let our day begin with night’s mothering
Shhh. There, there
Cease striving
Lay burdens down on the pillow of twilight
Listen to cicada’s songs
Bathe in moonlight
Let the evening begin the day
Stars Like Me, Stars in Repose
by
I love the dark
I love the night
It is the safest
Place for light
Hidden from the noise
Hidden from the pain
I take just a moment
To dream again
I look up and wonder
Are the stars at ease?
Or are they desperate for a change
Just like me
Hope more than deferred
Hope broken in two
Shattered in pieces
Cutting me, wounding you
Where's the way out?
Is it the way in?
Is it possible for us
To dream again
I look up with wonder
A sky of stars at peace
Has violence ever tortured them
Just like me
I'm only myself
How could I be someone else
But if I'm quiet I can make a life
If I play small I can survive
Death should not be
The way it begins
But from the horror
We'll dream again
Look out with wonder
A different set of stars I see
Alive within a hope that blesses
Just like me
Stay hopeful, there are other hearts
Just like me
Stars and Struggles for Black boys
by Robert
What do the stars hold for a poor Black boy
who struggled all his life
to become a Black man?
All the tears
and the fears
and the reach…
higher.
The journey to get to that
great expanse
requires a little bit of ingenuity,
some luck,
a beautiful mind,
and a whole lot of tears.
For up in that great big sky,
where the stars twinkle
in successive rhythm,
I know my salvation awaits.
The place of promise
and destiny
lovingly, but boldly beckon me to come.
“Leave your cares behind.”
“Leave those heavy shackles behind and come up here.”
Into the cold knowing.
The beautiful knowing.
*Please check out Sharifa’s and Nya’s substack. They are BEAUTIFUL writers.*
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Sharifa, your words are gorgeous and spoke to me deeply. My coworkers and I were just talking the other day about places we’ve been where you can truly see the stars, and our deep longing for that experience more frequently. And Robert, I love when you write about sci-fi - it’s a genre that has consistently comforted and inspired me.
Three of my favorite writer-poets in one place. Damn. What a beautiful offering.