We’re on the other end of the lake
when one of the boat’s engines
loses oil pressure. Now what was
a half-hour ride across the water
could take three times as long
going back.

But a gentler journey at least allows
me to lay out on the bow staring up
at stars peeking through soft light pollution.
That’s the handle of the Big Dipper there
and I think the bright one above is Polaris,
the North Star. Lord, I need some guidance.

I got stories colliding like cosmic events
because it’s rare that we ever meet people
at clean breaks between the chapters.
Every page turn could pull the main plot
forward or introduce a stellar twist 
to drive meaning and message home.

It’s too easy to outright dismiss
what doesn’t seem possible at the moment,
easy to preemptively give up
when failure is all you’re used to.
So I want you to imagine yourself
lying under these stars with me.

What’s your favorite song? Favorite book?
What makes you laugh? What makes you cry?
Let’s embrace in a hammock for two
or read side-by-side in a gazebo.
Let’s take a dip in lapping lakewaters,
let’s go out on a long, long walk together.

Life is for living so you have to be ready
to seize it when it’s happening for you
or you wake up years later like what happened?
I got stories still teaching new ways of being
and stars to illuminate the darkest nights.
All that’s left now is turning to the next page.