"Maybe that's what life is... a wink of the eye and winking stars"

Life, for Kerouac, unfolds in the briefest of instants, a fleeting wink, an ephemeral flicker. The phrase evokes the simultaneous simplicity and profundity of existence, capturing the spirit of impermanence that permeates his writing. The comparison of life to a “wink of the eye” invites contemplation of how our days and experiences flash by, almost imperceptibly, just as a wink lasts no more than a heartbeat. In that single gesture, lifetimes of emotion, meaning, and memory can exist, each moment both infinitesimal and infinite in its significance.

The mention of “winking stars” brings the cosmos into view, contextualizing the intimacy of a human life within the boundless universe. Stars themselves, distant and ungraspable, seem to blink in the night sky, alive for millennia yet appearing as momentary dashes of light to those below. They are both constant and ephemeral, embodying the paradox of endurance and transience. To Kerouac, the winking stars mirror our own fragile existence; just as they shimmer against the vast darkness, so do our moments of joy, sorrow, love, and longing shine for an instant against the backdrop of eternity.

There is also playfulness and tenderness in the language, suggesting that meaning is not necessarily derived from grand gestures or extended narratives, but from the simple, fleeting experiences, a shared glance, the beauty of a star-studded night, the awareness of being alive. The brevity of life is not presented as something to lament, but rather as an invitation to remain awake to each instant, to find wonder in small miracles. By equating life with a wink and the stars, Kerouac encourages an embrace of the present, a celebration of the now, a recognition that even the shortest of moments can illuminate the darkness, leaving behind glimmers of meaning amid life’s passing blur.