Waiting for the first star to appear

One aspect of the retreat I found very interesting to notice was that because we were getting up at 5am, and it was often very hot during the day, we tended to go to bed early (Noble silence begins after the evening meditation at 9.45 - 10pm) and I realised I hadn't seen the night sky. I was sure the stars would be amazing here but we never got to see them! So on the evening before the second lazy day my friend and I decided we would stay up to wait for the stars. There's that lovely space at twilight when the sun is slowly setting, birds and animals are settling down and everything is becoming quiet. And so we sat and waited looking at a nearly full moon, with the setting sun behind us, gazing around expectantly looking for the stars. In the end the moon was so bright we still didn't see a really dark, star-filled sky, but we had a lovely experience, as the poem below describes.

 Here's the sky as the sun was setting.              

 And this is the full moon the next morning, still perfectly visible.

Waiting for the first star to appear

The bountiful scent of honeysuckle
fills the twilight
as we sit by the lotus pond
chorused by frogs and crickets.
The moon is almost full
the sky is nearly cloudless
we patiently wait for the star to appear.

The trees lose their greenness,
slowly darkening.
The sky moves from blue to
a gentle mauve
a pink vapour trail cuts across the space.

There is a hush
as everything falls into peacefulness.
And the moon shines bright
watching over us all.

Looking and looking,
waiting and waiting.
Suddenly I notice the evening star.
My wish upon this star is,
May all be happy,
may all be free from dis-ease,
may all have well-being and
transform suffering.

The moon and star echo back
the same wish.
One by one,
as the curtain of night
slips into place,
a sky full of stars proclaims the wish
until every atom in the cosmos
can hear and receive it.
© 10 June 2014