Flying at Night

Flying at Night

Above us, stars. Beneath us, constellations.
Five billion miles away, a galaxy dies
like a snowflake falling on water. Below us, 
some farmer, feeling the chill of that distant death, 
snaps on his yard light, drawing his sheds and barn
back into the little system of his care.
All night, the cities, like shimmering novas, 
tug with bright streets at lonely lights like his. 

Much like After Years, this poem reflects on the insignificance of the everything in relation to one another. “Stars,” “constellations,” “snowflakes,” and “cities,” are all juxtaposed against one another, creating the feeling that in the grand scheme of life, humans are small. Kooser opens the open with short, pithy phrases: “Above us, stars. Beneath us, constellations.” This simplistic approach truly captures the essence of what Kooser’s message that the universe is enormous, revealing our extremely small significance by comparison. Through his use of simile and personification, Kooser also gives life to “the cities” that are “like shimmering novas” and that “tug with bright streets.” The universe is alive, and humans have little meaning in the overall picture.