> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://the-stardust-journal-press.ghost.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Stardust to Starlight
- URL: https://the-stardust-journal-press.ghost.io/stardust-to-starlight/
- Published: 2026-06-02T01:41:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-01T16:50:25.000Z
- Author: Daniel Rutberg
- Tags: poetry, #Migrated-1782924600586, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-01 12:50

If life were just a story,  
I would write a happy ending.

Yes, the hero and heroine  
would be soot-marked,  
their clothes in tatters,  
but they would be  
embracing in the silhouette  
of a full moon,

a harvest moon.

I still cry at all the parts  
you might expect,  
knowing my Hallmark sensibilities,  
those I was born with,  
and a few more developed along the way.

But mostly I have been in good spirits  
since I realized the soul  
that always glowed from within,  
the soul lit in your singular smile,  
the flash of mischief in your eyes,  
the roar of laughter that erupted  
when the absurdity of life  
poked you in the ribs,

The soul wrapped in stardust,  
the soul I saw swaying  
to Motown on the jukebox,  
the soul that grabbed my heart  
and still hasn't loosened its grip,  
has only slipped its earthly form

returning to the starlight,

leaving the stardust behind.