Tonight, let's go somewhere wide open.
Picture a low hill.
Far from town.
The grass is short and dry.
You've spread out an old quilt.
The thick one from the hall closet.
It still smells a little like the dryer.
Lie down on your back.
Feel the ground under the quilt.
Firm and steady.
You're bundled up.
A warm hat.
A second sweater, just in case.
The air on your face is cool.
Your breath makes a little cloud.
The crickets are going slow.
It's late in the year for them.
Somewhere far off, a dog barks once.
Then nothing.
Let your arms rest out to the sides.
Palms turned toward the sky.
Let your legs roll open a little.
For the next six minutes...
all you have to do is look up.
sky The is huge out here.
Much bigger than it looks from a It driveway.
goes all the way to the Past edges.
the fence posts.
Past the far ridge.
Now think about Whatever today.
felt so big an hour ago.
The thing on your calendar.
The bill.
The awkward text.
Hold it up against this It sky.
doesn't disappear.
But it gets smaller.
A lot smaller.
This sky was here before today.
It'll be here Your after.
worries are real.
They just aren't everything.
From way up there...
your whole day is one tiny light.
Blinking on, blinking off.
Hard to stay so worried...
about something that small.
Let them shrink a little more.
Down to the size of Something a pebble.
you could put in your pocket.
Take a slow breath in.
Cool night air.
And let it out.
Watch the little cloud float up.
Your eyes are getting used to the dark.
Find one star.
Any one you like.
Maybe the brightest.
Rest your eyes on it.
And breathe in...
And out.
Now let your gaze drift a little.
There's another one.
Fainter.
Breathe in...
And out.
And another.
Down near the tree line.
Just a pinprick.
In...
And out.
Every time you look...
there are more.
They were there all along.
A soft band of them now.
Like spilled sugar across the dark.
Some are twinkling.
Some are perfectly still.
That light traveled a very long Just way.
to get to your eyes tonight.
Some of it left before home...
anyone you know was And born.
it still arrived.
A thin streak slides across one corner.
A shooting star.
Gone before you can point.
You don't have to name them.
You don't have to know anything about them.
Just one more star...
one more slow breath.
The sky is full now.
More light than dark.
And you're lying right underneath it.
Let your eyes close now.
The stars stay.
You can feel even them...
behind your eyelids.
The quilt has soaked up your warmth.
The hill is holding you.
That pebble of a worry...
it's still in your pocket.
You can forget it's there.
A cricket.
Then a long quiet.
Breathing in...
And out...
The stars will keep shining.
All night long.
They don't need you to watch.
Sleep under them.
Goodnight.