In the middle of night she blooms, the Night Queen spreading her white petals of fragrance. In the morning she droops and wilts. To see her in true splendor midnight is the only time. Once I saw this little white fairy with her winged petals. She was like a fragrant moon radiant in her petal-corona; she kept her attached to a green flower stalk in a corner. I switched off the light after a while and she remained visible in her scent. Then I looked up. There the moonless night showed up with her millions of night-queens twinkling. In one place was a huge question mark, glittering, perhaps asking me, how do we look, we the starry blooms? Of course they’re familiar to me from my childhood days, the seven brightest stars of the constellation Ursa Major, The Big Dipper. They are the Sapta Rishis, seven sages to us. My father first introduced them to me with the story of these seven Light Beings that children of our times knew. And now they carry his memory too. I still have the reverence for them that was inculcated into me from my childhood.
Wakeful night
Blinks her starry eyelids
Memories glitter
Source Night Queen
Posted for Haibun Monday – Twinkle Twinkle @ dVerse
sumanar/lekha 
