Reincarnation, life everlasting--
call it whatever you will--

it will not change
the facts: we are ashes of stellar death.

And, in the end, wishing on shooting stars
is like pinning your hopes

on the last sound of the whistle
trailing off, last chord of the train

sparking on the tracks
then fading into the dark.

From Song of Thieves by Shara McCallum. Copyright © 2003 by Shara McCallum. Reprinted by permission of University of Pittsburgh Press. All rights reserved.