i couldn't get to sleep last night
i kept coming ever so close but
every time i caught myself drifting off
i snapped myself out of it, involuntarily

i went to sit in the garden
it must've been something like 03:50
i didn't really bring anything with me
other than my clothes, some crocs, and
a coat

so i laid and watched the stars
you must know by now that i like doing this

for a while it was mostly what i was used to
positioned differently, of course, i don't
typically do this at this sort of hour

i started seeing little star-like lights
that moved across the sky; at first
i thought them to be planes, but
planes have those red and green lights
they're pretty distinct, and were missing

maybe they were satellites. i did
see a lot once i noticed the first
or maybe they were shooting stars
it's cliched, i know
maybe it was a mix

tracing the path of one across the sky,
my eyes were drawn towards a cluster
of stars. the area around them caught my
eye; i couldn't realise why at first, but
upon allowing my focus to broaden, i realised

i was looking at the milky way.
it was very faint, of course
this is the most densely populated city in the country
so the light pollution was still intense, even at this hour

but it was there! for the first time,
i could tell it was there.

it felt much like when a car would pass by my bedroom window. laying in bed for so long, i'd often forget what my household even looks like. that's not to say that i couldn't see it, no, i could, but i'd look at it in such a dark light for so long that in my eyes it would turn to mush.

but when someone would pull into my road, getting home from a long night out, or to drop off someone dear to them, for a brief moment the light would change, and i would be reminded of my surroundings. that i'm really here. that the place where i lay is really here.

so i just stared for a while
it really got to me, yk?

and i was about to leave, i felt something brush past my leg

a cat

it's weird, cats that enter my garden are always more friendly than ones i meet anywhere else

it was 4:30 by the time i went inside

i hope it had a home