Beyond the Roofs and Trees

Look up beyond the roofs and trees,
Beyond the clouds and evening breeze.
A massive blanket, dark and deep,
Awakes while Earth begins to sleep.
The universe begins to glow,
A grand and cosmic talent show.
A trillion stars are blinking bright,
Like tiny diamonds in the night.
Some are young and burning blue,
Some are old and fading too.
They group together, making shapes,
Of lions, bears, and starry capes.
​Around the planets, moons appear,
Some are distant, some are near.
They dance in circles, smooth and bright,
And catch the sun’s reflecting light.
Some are made of rock and ice,
And some have views that look quite nice.
The planets spin in steady lines,
Each one a world of strange designs.
From giant worlds of swirling gas,
To heavy spheres of iron mass.
With golden rings and storms of red,
They circle where the sun has led.
​Then come the rocks that like to stray,
The asteroids that block the way.
They zoom along in rocky bands,
Like pebbles from forgotten lands.
And meteoroids, so small and fast,
Go diving through the dark at last.
They hit the air and catch on fire,
As shooting stars that we admire.
But look much further, way out far,
Beyond a single, lonely star.
The galaxies are spinning wheels,
Of colors that feel almost real.
Spirals of purple, pink, and gold,
With secrets that are yet untold.
​And deep within the darkest space,
A black hole hides its shadow face.
A giant gravity machine,
The strongest thing you’ve never seen.
It pulls the light, it pulls the dust,
A mystery that we must trust.
Yet in this ocean, vast and deep,
Where cosmic monsters never sleep,
There is a speck of brilliant blue,
The only home we ever knew.
So while the cosmos gleams so bright,
We're glad to watch it from the night.

-Sakina Banu