A Convolution of Astral Forces

we fetishize what we’ve
abandoned and what’s
abandoned us, which leads us

to obsess, says a series of posts
by an Instagram therapist

the mystery of the unseen
inside of things, the numinous

body’s portals and holes:
breathing passages, the mouth,
anything below the waist

you’re not a bad person
for wanting to merge with
someone else

some days the sky is a mirror

offer yourself up for adoration
penetration interpretation

think of a line of blinking fireflies
trailing the underside of night clouds
headed for the moon

that evening, after we saw
the perplexingly bright light string

beautiful and freaky and ethereal

after she told us that her father
loved to drive, got a job driving
a Good Humor truck through
the city at seventeen

then got fired for giving away
all the ice cream for free, Maeve
reminded us to let the doubt
into our work

We refuse to be intimidated
by uncertainty or time, we thought
after her pep talk

after we Googled “perplexingly
bright light string” and got
Elon Musk and Starlink

6000-plus mass-produced
satellites in low Earth orbit

designed to communicate
with designated ground
transceivers

some people think this
is how prayer works

direct messaging, then
intercession

Santa’s train of reindeer
carting gifts because you
made a list, but it’s August

your higher power won’t
answer, though it can be
anything: the universe,
Dolly Parton, science,

a household battery made
of seven components
that result in an electro-
chemical reaction

all the parts working together
to create energy we rely on
something carries the current

someone thinks we deserve
something good

Source: Poetry (December 2024)