Classic Poem

Once upon a time all the stars in Heaven were very good.
They played nicely with each other all day long;
They were polite to their neighbors;
And they talked in whispers whenever God was working.
But one day some of them said to the others,
" We are growing up now; we are no longer children.
Let us stop being polite and obedient;
Let us sing all day and dance all night, and kick up our heels in the morning. "
So all the Naughty Stars got together in one corner of the heavens.

And they sang all day and they danced all night and they kicked up their heels in the morning.
And they made such a terrible noise in the heavens that none of the angels could sleep.
And God came to them, and he said,
" You must be a little more quiet;
I am very busy and I don't want to be disturbed. Do you understand? "
And they all said " Yes, sir, " and kept very still.

But as soon as God's back was turned
The Naughty Stars started to sing and dance and kick up their heels;
And they made such a noise that every one of the angels had headaches.
And God heard them, although he was far away,
And he came back, very angry, and he said,
" Will you be still! Didn't I tell you I wanted more quiet!
The next time I have to speak to you about it, you'll be sorry.
I'll punish every one of you ... Do you understand? "
And they all said " Yes, sir, " and kept very still.

This time they really were still.
They sat in the corner of the heavens with their fingers on their lips for the longest time.
But when they saw that God had gone again, the Naughty Stars forgot all about their promise.
And they started to sing and dance and kick up their golden heels,
And make such a noise that the angels ran around like mad.
And suddenly up jumped God right in the middle of them!
They were so frightened they almost went out. . .
And God began to punish them.

He said, " Because you wouldn't do as you were told,
And because you didn't appreciate Heaven,
I am going to send you out of it.
You will have to live on the earth;
And all year long you'll hide in the grass and the bushes
And be afraid to show yourselves.
Only in the summer will you shine as you used to,
And then you'll try to fly back into the skies.
But you'll never get back into Heaven for a million years;
And you'll never stop trying. . .
And that's your punishment. "

And that's what happened. . . .
You can see them any evening in summer, trying to fly back into Heaven.
But they've forgotten the way they came,
Or perhaps their wings are broken, or maybe none of them are strong enough. . . .
Some people call them fireflies.
But you and I, father, know they are the Naughty Stars.