Listen!
If the stars are lit—
does it mean someone needs it?
Does it mean someone wants them to be?
Does it mean someone calls these specks
pearls?
And, tearing himself through
storms of midday dust,
bursts in to God,
fears he’s late,
cries,
kisses His sinewy hand,
begs—
that there be a star!
swears—
he cannot bear this starless torment!
And later,
he walks troubled,
but outwardly calm, telling someone:
“Now you’re alright?
You’re not afraid anymore? Yes?!”
Listen!
If the stars are lit—
does it mean someone needs it?
Does it mean it’s essential
that every evening
at least one star
lights up above the rooftops?!
— Vladimir Mayakovsky, 1914
