NaPo '26|Night Sky and You

ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Fri Mar 20, 2026 11:23 pm

ToastK says... · Fri Mar 20, 2026 11:23 pm

Poems about the night sky. And you.

Poems:

i.依代|Yorishiro (Cornerstone)
ii. lonely light
iii. Seizing the Stars
iv. Shooting Star
v. Shining Light, Dying Light
vi. Sea the Clouds
vii. Green Sky
viii. Amaranthine Night
ix. Dark Alley
x. Tap of the Brae
xi. Glow-in-the-Dark Stickers Taste Like Plastic and Glow Sticks
xii. Night call
xiii. A comma, not a period.
xiv. Lambent Fleeting Light
xv. Songkran
xvi. Silence slices like a knife
xvii. Black Snow
xviii. Tea Time Clementine
xix. The Water Cycle
xx. Myths wandering a wondering night
xxi. Changing Night.
xxii. 애정과 폭죽|Aejeong Gwa Pokjuk(Affection & Fireworks)
xxiii. Silhouette of the Night
xxiv. the moonlight that came down
xxv. Bon Sillage

The world needs more sparkles

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ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Sun Mar 29, 2026 5:28 am

ToastK says... · Sun Mar 29, 2026 5:28 am

依代|Yorishiro (Cornerstone)

きこえますか
僕の聲が

春になり
やっと暖かくなりました
其処はまだ寒いですか
離別もなく離れて
さらばもなく別れて
心は寒いです

見えますか
夜の星空が

流星になり
私は旅立ちました
何処でも行ける自由だが
貴方にもう逢えなくて
笑い顔も見れなくて
私は寂しいです

それでも僕は
それでも私は
生き続けます
きっとまた逢える日が明けると信じて
またお互いのからだが触れると信じて
あの土を
あの空を
依代にして生き続けながら
待ってます

Can you hear?
My faltering voice.

As spring arrives,
Warmth has finally returned here.
But, is it cold there?
You left without a single goodbye.
You went with not a single farewell.
My heart remains cold here.

Do you see?
This starry night sky.

Now a shooting star,
I have left on a long journey.
Though I’m free to go wherever,
Because I won’t get to meet you again,
Because I won’t see your smile again,
My heart remains lonely.

Even if, I
Even if, I
Will live on to see the next day.
I’ll live on to see a day again where we can meet face to face.
I’ll live on to see a day again where we can feel each other’s warmth.
Looking down onto the ground,
Looking up upon the sky,
I will make it the cornerstone of my life.
And I’ll wait.

Spoiler

Japanese ver. Narration
(note: one thing that is impossible to express in English with as much nuance as Japanese is the first pronoun. The two "I"s that were used to indicate the first person pronoun in japanese were different with one being 僕(boku) and the other being 私(watashi). Boku is masculine and Watashi is feminine. The only real way I was able to portray that was through colors in English, hence the color coded lines.)

The world needs more sparkles

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ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Tue Mar 31, 2026 4:19 am

ToastK says... · Tue Mar 31, 2026 4:19 am

lonely light

starry starry night sky
you must be so lonely
with everyone asleep so soundly
there’s no one to play with you dearly

sparkly sparkly night lights
you twinkle so effortlessly
your bright light shines so carefully
making sure to wake no one up in deep dark nights

lonely lonely moon light
you and you alone are the night’s shine
with you alone you light up the sky so brightly
it’s okay if you falter at times occasionally

to the stars moon and darkness of night
you all by yourselves may feel dimly
but remember that you together create harmony
even small things together can shine the dead of night so beautifully

The world needs more sparkles

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ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Thu Apr 02, 2026 2:08 am

ToastK says... · Thu Apr 02, 2026 2:08 am

Seizing the Stars

I reach out my hand, grabbing onto thin air.
The stars seem to be right there; lingering.
And yet, when I clench my hand,
meet my fingers to my palms,
I feel nothing but the nails of my fingertips stabbing into my skin.

Another day of trying,
To seize the stars.

I store a dream I once had, wishing it upon a shooting star.
But it turned to dust; it turned out disappointing.
I know that reality’s often cruel,
But I can’t help but hope,
That one of these stars will finally grant a dream from my past.

Another day of trying,
To seize the stars.

I continue my day, mundane as ever.
I ceased long ago of any immature daydreaming
And yet I can’t help but imagine,
These paperclips bent diversely,
Into figures of action that bring me back to times simpler and coated in rose.

Another day of failing,
To cease to dream.

The world needs more sparkles

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ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Fri Apr 03, 2026 1:33 am

ToastK says... · Fri Apr 03, 2026 1:33 am

Shooting Star

When I was little I loved shooting stars
They were celebrities of the sky
The would always come in with a grand entrance
Then
Just like that
They would disappear forever into somewhere else
Mysteriously

Now that I’m in school everyone looks down on shooting stars
They prefer to be stable and silent
Never being in the spotlight but always shining bit by bit
But
I must say
It’s never a bad thing to have a life that’s one big bang
Where you show yourself to the world
Just
To never be seen again

Now that I’m older I realize that people are jealous assholes
They complain about shooting stars
Saying that they’re always loud and get all the attention
But
They should know
That they are fundamentally different from a shooting star
Just because you don’t fly across the sky
Doesn’t mean you’re worse
You should just stay as you
And brighten up the pitch black sky in your own
Little
Way

A shooting star
Is but a rock that whizzes across the sky in a single scintillating beauty of a moment
But a star
Is but a cluster of atoms that warm and light up the cold emptiness of space
People forget though, that neither is better
Just
Different

The world needs more sparkles

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ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Sat Apr 04, 2026 2:30 am

ToastK says... · Sat Apr 04, 2026 2:30 am

Shining Light, Dying Light

There once was a gleeful ol' girl
Who loved to dance and dance
And all day she continued to twirl
Until dawn broke along with her trance

She was a light to many others
To that everyone would agree
Her dancing like nothing could bother
People were drawn into it and smiled in glee

But cruel is often this reality
She eventually had to give up
But her passion was a certainty
And though in the past, she'd never let up

One day, she'd respark her light
And audition; try something redolent
She gave it her all with nothing but delight
And she thought others saw that she was diligent

But cruel is often this reality
Age had come and no longer her light shone
No one had taken her dance seriously
She left defeated, feeling all alone

A light that once burned bright deep inside
Was nothing more than a spark
A spark which despite all its best has died
And now left hollow, her heart was left dark

The world needs more sparkles

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LuminescentAnt

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Points 15000

Reviews 138

Sat Apr 04, 2026 7:06 pm

LuminescentAnt says... · Sat Apr 04, 2026 7:06 pm

Spoiler

Hi Toast! I love your theme for this year, I think there's a lot you can explore with the night sky. I really like your poem about seizing the stars, it feels like a really heartbreaking image, and the repetition is very effective. I especially love this line:

These paperclips bent diversely,
Into figures of action that bring me back to times simpler and coated in rose.

Your most recent poem is also really cool, like how it's structured as a story and is written in the form of an arc, I think that would be a cool thing to explore in future poems. Keep going, your poetry is awesome!

Good is not a thing you are. It's a thing you do.

- Ms. Marvel

LuminescentAnt ~ Lum ~ Ant
(she/her)

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ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Sat Apr 04, 2026 8:09 pm

ToastK says... · Sat Apr 04, 2026 8:09 pm

Sea the Clouds

Seas seize ceasing tides as if it’s their last
The wave waves but remains unheard in silent past
Clouds crowd to drift apart again above oceans vast
Why is it that we imbue meaning in things that don’t last

Yesterday I saw a wave grand and strong
But it was just for a moment before settling down and going along
Clouds much the same always hover mighty and high
But after the rain reigns the sun shines to which cirrus abides

Amongst us lived lives that lie silent like sea
Before us stood times we’d treasure in nights we couldn’t see
But forgetting’s the pleasure for we have no duty when blind in the dark
Like an old dog I stand guarding things with nothing more than a bark

Things unseeable are easy to let go in the mind
But they still exist even if for a moment after which it’s left behind
So come with me and stand though weak and frail
Since seas and clouds tell tales in which our hearts inside slowly unveil

The world needs more sparkles

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alliyah

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Points 136272

Reviews 1283

Sun Apr 05, 2026 1:45 am

alliyah says... · Sun Apr 05, 2026 1:45 am

Spoiler

ToastK! You've got a great start so far!

(Side note - I think it's really fascinating when I'm reading through everyone's NaPo and catch two people on the same wave-length and you and @Spearmint were on a very similar wave length for April 4 - your brains were in sync! Love it!)

The innocence and then movement to anger disillusionment at the world in your shooting stars poem is an impactful swing.

And I also very much enjoyed your poem about trying to grab on to stars - that's a great poetic image!

You've got this, keep on going!

you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now

but i have promised to return

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ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Sun Apr 05, 2026 9:30 pm

ToastK says... · Sun Apr 05, 2026 9:30 pm

Green Sky

When the sun begins to set,
You see a yellowish orangish purplish sky.
But there’s green hidden right by,
The sliver of horizon that meets the dawning night.

Stare off with me into waters that,
Refract the flashing moments of our past in waves.
Stare off with me into waters that,
Contain the tears we let flow during bygone days.

Our last moment before light goes,
Let’s spend it halcyon as breeze blows,
Ruffling your hair that shines gold,
Under the twilight shine that looms cold.

Greater than nothing is the moment,
When green is visible in the sky’s gradient.
Right before grief of night comes,
And just after grace of day ends,
That sliver of a moment’s gradient,
That flashing of the setting sun,
I live another day to see it again.
To see the rainbow that only shows,
For but a moment before it goes.

The world needs more sparkles

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ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Tue Apr 07, 2026 5:15 am

ToastK says... · Tue Apr 07, 2026 5:15 am

Amaranthine Night

amaranthine (noun)

ˌa-mə-ˈran(t)-thən
: of or relating to an amaranth; a red flower that never fades

Another night goes by.
And you and I, are we all right?
‘Cause by your side I tried
To be a better person, but failed overnight.

In a sea of stars and field of clouds
Retrieve the past and yield what’s ours.
On the crack of dawn let’s get away
On a track that leads to a place where night never ends.

Another light goes by.
And in its shine, can we just lie
In a field of grass unobliged,
Still trying to hope for an amaranthine night?

In a sea of stars and field of clouds
Retrieve the past and yield what’s ours.
On the crack of dawn let’s get away
On a track that leads to a place where night never ends.

And when we see that the earth stops to spin,
Let us hide inside the dead of night and not give in
To the thoughts that come and consume our will to live.
‘Cause the moon’s up; it’s an amaranthine light.

In a sea of stars and field of clouds
Retrieve the past and yield what’s ours.
On the crack of dawn let’s get away
On a track that leads to a place where night never ends.

The world needs more sparkles

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ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Wed Apr 08, 2026 2:05 am

ToastK says... · Wed Apr 08, 2026 2:05 am

Dark Alley

On a Thursday night as residents wind down,
For the night that’s to come and prepare for bedbound,
Lights flicker and shut off and darken the alleyway’s grimed ground,
An alleyway dark and decrepit and infested with rats that move without sound,
A man emerges as he drunkenly stumbles around,
Calling for something with his voice piercing the dead of night loud,
He slowly loses himself in the stench of fog created by trash mounds,
Staring high into the sky where stars exist not covered by clouds,
And calls out a name mustering all strength he had…

In a dark alley he slowly lies,
Lying to himself that he’s alright,
While curtains shun a view unpleasant from residents’ sight,
A tear falling from his face from incidents that happened yesternight,
Calling out a name for which he couldn’t tomorrow as he lost the right,
Another day had gone and yet the indifferent city remains bright,

The world needs more sparkles

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ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Thu Apr 09, 2026 3:23 am

ToastK says... · Thu Apr 09, 2026 3:23 am

Tap of the Brae

Beith ye the licht of mine life,
“Fret not,” ye say lookin’ doon with a smyle.
I speel a brae to get closer to the starns.
And ye’re ane of ‘em, shinin’ brichter than all others.
I’m at the tap of the brae, breathin’ the same ayr as ye.
And ye’re naw langer here, yet I still grene for ye.
Frae tap of the brae I wish to meet ye agane.
Frae tap of the brae we sang auld sangs without names.

Spoiler

Beith ye the light of my life,
"Fret not," ye say looking down with a smile.
I climb a hill to get closer to the stars.
And you're one of them, shining brighter than all others.
I'm at the top of the hill, breathing the same air as ye.
And you're no longer here, yet I still yearn for ye.
From top of the hill I wish to meet ye again.
From top of the hill we sang old songs without names.

The world needs more sparkles

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ToastK

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Points 6288

Reviews 83

Fri Apr 10, 2026 5:50 am

ToastK says... · Fri Apr 10, 2026 5:50 am

Glow-in-the-Dark Stickers Taste Like Plastic and Glow Sticks

It’s a hot, sticky night in the middle of June.
Mom bought some Glow-in-the-dark stickers to decorate my room.
Sweltering in my bed, I toss my duvet aside.
Dolls suffocate, trying to comfort me by climbing into a pile.
The AC broke last fall and yet it remains unreplaced.
The fan’s too weak to cool yet still tries its best, rotating its gaze.
I stare at the whirling fan; hypnotizing it seems.
I stare up at the chaos of stickers and they look back with gleam.
Their green, their radioactive-yet-tantalizing looking green,
It makes them look edible, like they taste like toxic waste candy.
I try to go back to sleep, thinking about what they’ll taste like.
Those Glow-in-the-dark stickers that keep me up at night.

The world needs more sparkles

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