i. darling, you\'re a flame and you\'re burning, damn you\'re burning brighter than i thought anyone ever could. darling, your eyes are amber and when the light shines they turn to the color of a candle in the pitch black darkness. darling, you get cut and you bleed l i g h t. darlin\', you forget to sleep for days [you protest: i don\'t know how to fall asleep when every night my mind is a humming machine of horror]. there are shadows beneath your eyes but all i can see is star.
ii. you\'ve got suns for bones and constellations for eyes, a brightness burning inside you that\'s almost painful to the touch. i\'m afraid you\'ll burn out if you don\'t take care. the world is always trying to put out lights like you.
iii. when i was a little kid, my mama used to tell me how some people, they are born and they\'ve got eyes like the first dawn and hearts like poplar honey and souls like polaris guiding us home (they become home, she used to say). the world doesn\'t like that, it thinks, this one, this one is beautiful but beautiful things are not allowed to exist without adversity.
iv. when i met you, i knew that you were one of those people with firelight in their bones, burning so bright their light spills from their eyes and they smell like smoke, always. you\'ve got a past more jagged than a graveyard of ships but damn if it doesn\'t make you that much more incredible.
v. i held you hand and i had nightmares about cities falling into the seas and stars imploding for weeks. the universe tells me: you shouldn\'t get close to stars, they will inevitably end in tragedy. beautiful things are not allowed to exist without adversity. the universe tells me: you shouldn\'t get close to stars, they will swallow all your brightness whole. the universe tells me: you shouldn\'t get close to stars or they will take you out with them.
vi. to that, i answer: have you ever loved a star? have you ever looked up at the sky and realized you are loved by something more than mortal? have you ever felt skin that burns with white-hot fire and eyes that reflect celestial bodies?
vii. to that, i answer: stephanie, i am entranced by your star eyes and sun bones and polaris soul. you are home to me. i will weather any tragedy with you. star-girl, you are not alone. star-girl, you are not alone. star0girl, i will be at your side til the end of time if you let me.