cloudy with a chance of firewalls

clouds overhead are overrunning the sky
dearies, this is really not the time
i'll love you at sunset, and i'll love you at sunrise,
but please won't you let me have my planets and stars when it's night?

Signs

She was nine, wide-eyed, holding on to her father's hand as the vast darkness dizzied above.
"That is Vega; that is Altair."
He taught her the signs.
"And there Deneb is; summer is coming."

She was sixteen, impressionable, dreaming up romances she and the boy had run out of time for.
"That is Vega; that is Altair."
He kissed her goodbye.
"And there Deneb is; they'll meet again."

Summer arrives, and is past, as lovers come to be and to part.
"That is Vega; that is Altair."
Time moves stories as it does the stars.
"And there Deneb is; right by the Great Rift."

She is forty, farsighted, having traveled more constellations than legends reach.
"That is Vega; that is Altair."
Sometimes things mean simply what they seem.
"And there Deneb is; the sky is clear."

Before We Can See the Sky

I really should have stalked her better. Not only so that I wouldn't discover these beautiful things so late, but also so that I can perhaps start saying what I've been hearing people say about k.d. lang: "This woman can do no wrong." =D


Katie Melua - Blowing in the Wind (Bob Dylan cover, live)




There have been many renditions of this song but the only one I've heard before this is Peter, Paul and Mary's acoustic version (at the time when I haven't known what the lyrics meant yet). While I like this one for its own style, the comparison just added on to my marvel at the dynamics in Katie's rendition.

On the topic of seeing the sky... 
Welcome back, my beloved clouds, colours of sunset, glimpses of stars.
心配していた--
また会えて良かった。

Gray City

When it rains it rains so slowly,
In the city where I'm from.
-- Turin Brakes, "Rain City"

Dusk comes easily enough,
no red nor yellow to chase off the horizon.
Muted colours like white noise implode,
overflowed with drops immaterialized.

In my mind, the words he sang:
"It's raining on Sunday morning..."

King of melancholy, child of gloom!
Where can I find salvation for us both?


Evenings like this I get unquiet,
when beneath the black is not clear distant sky.
Never relied on the moon for light,
but space feels bitter when stars too hide.

In my mind, the song he wrote:
"Sparkling gems are flooding the streets..."

Lyra, Sagitta, Cygnus, Aquila!
When may I delight upon your radiance?


Cold it might be when the waters fall,
chilling all the more when they linger.

My heart still ponders the soulful refrain:
"It's raining on--"

Black Butterfly

                                                                 my heart lifting
      at the sight of you

                                   is the only

                                        sign i need.

                                            when have i

                                                                               come to be
so attached?

Glorious

So this is what it feels like;
This is how it feels when you're finally walking on the inside.
This is what it looks like;
This is how it looks from the outside staring in.

"Are you in love lately?" she asked,
which I thought was strange, back then,
but she might have read it right after all, because

the sky throughout November
has been the prettiest I've seen of her,

these dreams I'm now courting
might have been flirting with me all along, unnoticed,

and a long-time adoration I thought was flawed
is turning out capable of stirring in me, emotions
as profound as gratitude.

So who cares if the attraction is superficial,

when I finally get a glimpse of the world inside
and with such clarity,

when I'll take without hesitation, a choice inferior, yet
unfailingly beloved;

this freedom it has dared me to take
if maybe too shallow to call happiness,

is still pretty close to

light.

Fuyu no Seiza Orion

Thanks to the long downpour that cleared the sky, and the big bright full moon that drew my attention up there, half my wish has been fulfilled today. xD The stars were so visible tonight!

[Edit 7 Dec 2009:] Thanks to the timing I exited the building too probably; these days they seem to come out to play around 10pm.

I've always wondered how people can identify constellations when the positions always seem so vague to me. =P After a bit of digging I think the one I saw is Orion, judging from the three in the lineup plus the trapezoid corners:

Picture courtesy of christiancyberspace

Even with just a small piece like this, among the intrusions of the now-too-bright, now-too-dense street lightings of this city, it felt pretty amazing. =) Not as interesting as the ever-changing view of the sky when it is rich with colors, but there is a different kind of amazement in the vast darkness, the way the stars go in and out of sight as our vision adjusts to different regions of that darkness.

(I still want to go to a well-built planetarium someday for an even more profound emotion, weird as it may sound after this non-artificial experience. =D)

Now while my adrenalin is settling down, here are some constellation-themed songs! ^__^


Nakashima Mika, "ORION" [Ryuusei no Kizuna OST]




Otsuka Ai, "Planetarium" [Hana Yori Dango OST]




Onitsuka Chihiro, "Ryuuseigun" (Meteoric Swarm) [Trick II OST]




And lastly, an old-time favourite of mine:

OMD, "Walking on the Milky Way"