on watching a street lamp go out

last night 
as i was
driving 
a street lamp 
went out above me
i thought to myself

what does that mean?
what on 
earth could that
mean?
that kind of thing
doesn't just happen-- 

it reminded me
of 3rd grade when
my teacher told
us that some
of the stars we look
at are already dead--
their light a final
kiss
across the galaxy--

light-beam
crawling on
hands & kness
down telescope barrel--
playground
slide-- 
speck of
glow & laughter--

i want to die 
jovially like
the stars

like
polaris or anteres--
alpha andromadee &
the sisters mizar &
alcor--
who will all
someday 
go out mostly 
unnoticed--

their thumb prints
of light
radiating 
lonely goodbye--

how human it is
to name a dying
flash of brilliance
kissing us gently--
jostling
past 
asteroids & asterisks
to land so quietly
in our street lamps--

when i saw the street
lamp go 
out i knew that it
was once a star--
that it once journeyed--
backpack dangling
by one strap--
hitch hiking somewhere
along the back of ursa
major--

i thought to myself
that's how it will
all end-- won't it?
with the same unassuming
quiet death  
of the stars--
the earth will
sneak away from us--

a kiss down
the barrel of
a telescope 
the quiet blink
of a straw lamp
relinquishing its 
final fleck of
light