Exerpt from a poem in progress

Some nights ago,

when I had taken more wine than I should,

I stood outside my tent, as was my custom, gazing at the stars.

They were as friends to me,

and many I called by name when they appeared.

Night upon night I watched them rise and set,

I knew their movements well,

their times and seasons too

For many a year they led me through the desert dark

About my trade

And by my dial told the hour of prayer

Showed me the way the holy city stood

Oh! How I made my children laugh

As I recounted tales told in the shining shapes

Embellished as they were – well any father would!

And how their laughter brought such joy to me.

But more than this:

For nightly did I ponder on the meaning of it all

The very nature of creation gripped me so

So there upon this night I stood again

And watched as ever,

wond’ring as I did

Now, if I dreamed, or had some inner sight

Or truly did all that I think I did

I cannot say

But what I now relate seemed real enough

For I was touched, I vow

By God himself

And howsoever matters not to me.