The Poetry of R.E. Slater: R.E. Slater - Life Is a Sweet Mess in the Laughter of the Stars

"Autobiographies of great nations are written in three manuscripts – a book of deeds, a book of words, and a book of art. Of the three, I would choose the latter as truest testimony." - Sir Kenneth Smith, Great Civilisations

"I must write each day without fail, not so much for the success of the work, as in order not to get out of my routine." - Leo Tolstoy

I have never believed that one should wait until one is inspired because I think the pleasures of not writing are so great that if you ever start indulging them you will never write again. - John Updike

"The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it." - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Poetry is the shadow cast by our streetlight imaginations." - Lawrence Ferlinghetti

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Saturday, January 17, 2026

R.E. Slater - Life Is a Sweet Mess in the Laughter of the Stars

Illustration by R.E. Slater & ChatGPT

Illustration by R.E. Slater & ChatGPT

Life Is a Sweet Mess

in the Laughter of the Stars

by R.E. Slater

for Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,

who taught us that stars may laugh -

and that listening is its own kind of wisdom

---

The universe does not explain itself -

it invites us to listen,

and rewards us with wonder when we do.

---

Life is a sweet mess in the laughter of the stars,
A sparkling, wild affair, ever in sudden, sweet surprise.

Where scars collide with wonder, then tangle into ours,
And chaos shines and flies, beyond all our careful tries.

In the spill of darkness bright, we come to learn to stand,
Stumbling into joy, with dusty wounds upon our hands.

Nor may the cosmos judge the paths we come to choose,
Tho' it hums and laughs along the way, as we win and lose.

In life we learn to dance between the broken and the whole,
Each held in fragile orbit that no one fully can control.

Meaning flickers briefly, then softly drifts afar,
Still warm upon the breath, of every living star.

We trip on hope and call it learning's sailing mast,
Tying present joys onto echoes of our flown past.

Every moment hums with airy chances oft' half-unseen,
In maybe-worlds dangling 'twixt what is and has been.

Our doubts no less have rhythms when they fall or rise,
Like fiery meteors briefly lighting evening's tender skies.

Nothing is ever wasted - neither ache nor gentle bliss,
Each a scattered synchronicity we too often easily miss.

As a churning universe leans forward, never in hasty rush,
Inviting us to savor, whatever we deem to try.

Or unexpected small kindnesses bend the gravity of our days,
So may soft words make rare constellations from moiling grays.

No script is fixed, no ending locked, in heavy granite stone,
That cannot be improvised with starlight upon our tomes.

Creation always listens when we speak in prayer,
And answers back in lilting echoes, oft as thin as air.

Let us learn not to stress, when plans too easily unravel,
And to bless the mess that keeps our hearts in hopeless frazzel.

When thinking all is lost when wandering for a while,
And carrying dashed forevers on darkened, fleeting smiles.

Yet each anxious breath but wispy note within a larger song,
And each life but a fragile verse that doesn’t last too long.

For in the forming choruses heard ringing far and near,
Shines briefly-bright newborn stars on every morning's fears.

R.E. Slater
January 17, 2026
@copyright R.E. Slater Publications
all rights reserved

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This poem is written in grateful conversation with The Little Prince, not as imitation but as inheritance. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry gave language to a way of seeing the universe that is tender rather than triumphant, relational rather than commanding.

Here, the stars do not instruct or judge. They accompany. They laugh at times - not in mockery - but in shared delight at the strange beauty of evolving becoming. Life, in all its shared confusion and brilliance, is not a problem to be solved but a tender participation to be lived.

If the poem carries any wisdom, it is this: meaning is not imposed from above, but discovered in attention, kindness, and the courage to remain open.

PROCESS NOTES

1. “Life is a sweet mess”

This line expresses a process ontology rather than a personal moral judgment. Reality is not disordered because it has failed to reach perfection; it is supremely creative because it has not finished becoming. The status of "mess" is but the visible trace of processual novelty.

2. “Laughter of the stars”

The cosmos - or, Divine Sacred - as used here in neutral expression is non-coercive. Laughter is neither control nor indifference; it is deeply felt resonance. For without it, life is a sterile, hateful thing. Rather than the Greek view of a universe which is stoic, transcendent, impersonal, and indifferent - it shows itself as an integral partner in participating with evolving life by making room for it too grow, explore, test, and fail.

3. On becoming and improvisation

“No script is fixed” reflects a non-deterministic metaphysic. The future is not pre-written; it is co-authored, moment by moment, day by day. Even error, failure, and suffering contributes a processual texture to the unfolding organic canvas of the whole.

4. On value without permanence

“Each life but a fragile verse that doesn’t last too long” affirms organic value without senseless immortality. Meaning does not depend on endurance. It depends on intensity of value-based participation which gains its completeness in a reality resonating with song.

5. On listening

Listening is the poem’s quiet ethic. Not obedience. Not certainty. But attentiveness - what process thought recognizes as relational responsiveness.

Original title: Le Petite Prince (1943) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

NOTES ON "THE LITTLE PRINCE"

The Little Prince is a classic novella by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, first published in 1943, that tells the story of a pilot who crashes in the Sahara and meets a young prince from a distant asteroid.

Through the prince's travels to other planets and his encounters with various characters, the book explores profound themes of loneliness, love, friendship, and the human condition, criticizing the narrow-mindedness of adults and celebrating the wisdom of childhood innocence. It is one of the most translated and best-selling books ever, beloved by both children and adults.

Key aspects of the novella:

Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who was also a pilot, drew on his own experiences for the story.

Plot: A pilot stranded in the desert meets the Little Prince, who recounts his journey from his tiny home planet (asteroid B-612) and his encounters with a rose, a fox, and other strange adults on different planets.

Themes: The book is a philosophical tale about the importance of seeing with the heart, the meaning of love and responsibility ("You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed"), and the contrast between the imaginative world of children and the materialistic world of grown-ups.

Style: It is known for its simple yet profound language and Saint-Exupéry's own watercolor illustrations, which are integral to the story.

Legacy: Published in the U.S. during WWII, it became a global phenomenon, adapted into numerous films, plays, and ballets, and remains a timeless classic.

Remembering Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,

France's flying storyteller