Stars

(album: How Is It That I Should Look At the Stars - 2022)

How is it that I should look at the stars?
Drove out in the desert in a rental car
And I climb up on the roof and lie in wait
For my eyes to adjust
For some peaceful state

When I was a child, my mother'd send me outside
On a moonless night, to see the light
Cast out in some ancient storm
With a woolen blanket to keep me warm

So overwhelmed by the beauty of the sky
How could I not be?

But how should I look at the stars tonight?
At a million suns?
None of them mine
Nowhere up there is a place like this
Not one waterfall, no river mist

I felt dizzy, my chest clenched cold and tight
It'll be 2020 tomorrow night
From Salton City, I hear fireworks go off
As though they're celebrating all another year has cost
Or is it carelessness?
Send another star into the sky
Only to watch it die
Fall across the black in a shining arc
I swear to god this world will break my heart