More light, but not from you! the guests demand.
They praise the gaudy bulbs that stud the fence
but shield their faces from your starry eyes.
Too bright, they say, too nervy, out of size—
dim them bit (the eyes), and they might stand
a chance to serve as party ornaments.
By blazing on, you show your meager care
for their injunctions or the bitter air.
How do you stand full fire where fire is banned?
Why would they want a middling neighborhood?
Why do they lean toward the lesser light?
Asking myself these things, I stood the night,
each hour an age, until I understood;
that is, I age and still don't understand.