Originally published in Sarah E. Wright and Lucy Smith’s Give Me a Child (1955) , now out of print. If you’d like to assist/keep up-to-date with efforts to get the book printed again, follow our Substack.

“No, honey!
	That star didn’t just get there,
	But I am not at all surprised
	This is your first time seeing it;
		This is your first night
		Outside of things that do not end with self–
		Your first different kind of night,
		That will end in a different sun.
	First hungers, unsatisfied,
	Always bring the darkness
			down
		with a question.
	No, I am not at all surprised that
	You see our star;
	It’s always there to light the way
		in such a night as this.
May you have it?
		Yes, anybody can have it –
		It’s everybody’s star.
Does it have a name?
		Many names in many lands,
		But all the names mean
			Peace.
What does it feel like, our star?
		Like plenty —
			like not being scared —
	like tomorrow’s sun pushing away the darkness —
			like love.

And now I get you up to struggle;
			this night is not for napping.
Build star fire against the hungry cold;
You can not sleep away this need.
A whole world of people awaits
			one more who sees the star.
		Have a good night, little new one.
		Have a bright star-fetching night;
		And tomorrow, pray the sun…”