International Space Station or Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
by Michelle Aucoin Wait
Actually, now that some time has passed,
I like the full blossom of the evening,
the way both the sun & the moon
are visible, the way that we can all stand
in our individual locations & feel
something like connection, find our center
anchored between two celestial bodies.
I am sorry I never let myself stand still
& inhale the scent of the sunbaked earth
as it cools in the quiet dusk. I am sorry
I wasted all my wishes on meaningless things.
First star I see tonight, I wish I had a vodka
and ginger ale, a cigarette, & that the world
would stop spinning, drunk on power.
I am sorry it took me until adulthood
to appreciate the way Venus shines unblinking,
the way she dots the sky like a signpost
for dreams. Lord, make me an angel. Make me a fire
that walks along the path with me. Let it burn
scars into the earth that they can see from their third
brightest spot in low Earth orbit. I wonder
if any of them thought to take a book of poetry
or if any of them write their own metaphors
for the satellite they have become. Did anyone tell them
that John Prine died, that Earth is a festering wound?
When they get restless, can they binge
watch television shows that remind
them of their childhood—of home—
or are they content in dwelling in the bright vastness
of the unknown?
Image: Stuart Buck is a visual artist and award-winning poet living in North Wales. His art has been featured in several journals, as well as gracing the covers of several books. His third poetry collection, Portrait of a Man on Fire, is forthcoming from Rhythm & Bones Press in November 2020. He is the art editor for Konstellation Magazine and available for commissions all year round. He can be contacted via Twitter or E-Mail
Michelle Aucoin Wait just recently obtained her MFA from the University of Nevada, Reno. Michelle’s pronouns are she/her/hers/herself. Her work has appeared or will be appearing in Tiferet, Maudlin House, Lady/Liberty/Lit, LandLocked, The Meadow, Porkbelly Press, and others. She is a transplant from the Deep South and now resides beside a mountain with her family and her four yorkies.
