The Hungering Stars

I.

There Are Many Kinds of Hunger

The Hunger of the Belly

The Hunger of the Mind

The Hunger of the Heart

II.

A Fourth Kind of Hunger is the Hunger of Eyes

And the Stars Burn Bright with Hunger

They Wake Each Night to Drink

We Drink the Stars and the Stars Drink Us

III.

The Radiance of the Stars are the Strings in Our Eyes

The Worm that Crawls, The Line that Dances

These Are Wounds Where the Stars Kiss Our Eyes

And the Strings that Dance are the Strings that Burn

IV.

The Voleids Drink the Grass and the Plants

The Flowering Trees and the Fruiting Vines

The Voleids Burn Bright With Hunger

And their Hunger is a Gift

V.

The Sineids Drink from the Depths of the Sea

Salt and Brine and Scales in the Dark

The Sineids Burn Bright With Hunger

And their Hunger is a Gift

VI.

The Faerids Drink from Our Hearts

Love and Shame and the Fear of Death

The Faerids Burn Bright With Hunger

And their Hunger is a Gift

VIII.

The Einvars Drink from What is Discarded

Bone and Gristle and Blood

The Einvars Burn Bright with Hunger

And their Hunger is a Gift

IX.

The Atols Drink from the Mirror of Worlds

The Light in Perpetuity, the Light of the Self

The Atols Burn Bright with Hunger

And their Hunger is a Gift

X.

The Kraenars Drink from the Rock of Eternity

Whose Light is Slowest But Burns Long

The Kraenars Burn Bright with Hunger

And their Hunger is a Gift

XI.

The Goleins Drink from the Unseen World

Of Filament and Shadow and Flame

The Goleins Burn Bright with Hunger

And their Hunger is a Gift

XII.

The Daevols Drank from the Star-that-Fell

And Rose in the Glory of Night

The Daevols Burn Bright with Hunger

And their Hunger is a Gift

XIII.

We Dwell in the Garden of the Stars

We Drink the Radiant Light

The Hunger of the Stars is a Gift

And a Gift Offers No Mercy