Skies, Then and Now

Irony found
in this fact:

I grew up in the Prairies
from Alberta
to Manitoba.
And so rarely
would I look up
at the skies
and the stars.

Despite watching
Adama and Kirk,
Rogers and Koenig,
I would not look
up at the skies
where, so the TV said,
their adventures
and trials played out.

Now, in Ottawa,
despite tales in the news
of light pollution
masking the skies,
I look up and see
at last, at long last,
Dubhe and Bellatrix,
Polaris and Rigel.

And still,
I do not quite
understand
what it is I see
at night, when
the skies are clear...
or at least...
clear enough.