I look at the fluorescent stars

under the shelves next to my bed:

the memories make me smile every time,

reminding me that I have friends:

it might seem silly but it’s a needed reminder,

a welcomed one.

So many years ago 

my best friend put stars on the ceiling above my bed,

stars, planets and moons:

a whole universe in my tiny bedroom.

She said that it was for the bad days:

the days I struggled to get out of bed,

for the nights when the Sandman got lost in the darkness -

when sleep seemed light years away. 

“Everyone need their own universe” she said 

She didn’t know that she was the sun I was revolving around;

I already had my universe,

I wish I had a chance to tell her that. 

A year back I had a really bad day;

the kind of day I didn’t leave bed,

eventually I called a friend &

we talked for hours and I told him 

about my own fluorescent universe,

how I lost the pieces in boxes moving:

how I hoped to find them again some day.

A week later,

a small package arrived

no universe this time

just stars, pink fluorescent stars,

and a note:

“I’m sorry I can’t be there to help you put them up.

They’re for every day: not just the bad ones.

Make your own night sky.”

And I did. 

I look at the fluorescent stars and they remind me of friends I have,

and the friends I had,

they make every bedroom feel like home:

they make the bad nights a little brighter,

they make the bad days a little better.

Everyone need their own universe;

it shouldn’t revolve around someone else though.