SPACE

Before liftoff, I told you-
you’re the only one I talk to.
For God’s sake, I asked, would you look up?
Would you tell me about the constellations?
Because if you can’t see the stars,
I’ll have to put them in the sky myself,
And then I might not come back down.
I might stay with the satellites-
With the forgotten rockets, now suspended,
Now turning in an infinity of things.
Did you know-
that we are ninety-two million miles from the sun,
But only an instant from its light?
This is what I mean when I tell you “Give me space.”

You say I have been known
To swallow my fears. It’s true, but
they never seem to stay down for long.
If I am Cronus then you are the stone in my throat.
With you, I often dreamt of fire-
A Promethean tail blazing across the sky
Carrying me away.
Sometimes- carrying us.

For so long, we were flying
In a Rocket emblazoned with the names of our deepest secrets-
Apollo, who cannot dwell in darkness.
Gemini, who cannot live alone.
Did you know that I too eat pomegranate seeds
Whenever I fear your winter is coming?
​
We forgot that those who fly must come back down.
And so it was that by the time our rockets had flames
and our souls had dreams,
Our minds had wandered to grander things
And we forgot
Why we made rockets at all.