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Between drags of my cigarette,
I lie back on the concrete
and stare into the night sky.

The stars are beautiful tonight, aren’t they?

Not because the air is clear,
or that the heavens are unusually bright
but because tonight I see their depth,
their quiet elegance,
the way they gather into a canvas
stitched across light-years.

The way they align feels like perfection
a harmony born of distance,
comfort found
in the vastness of the abyss.

I trace the Big Dipper,
Orion too.
Not for anyone else,
but for the stone that cradles my skull,
for the roots beneath the soil,
for the spiders weaving
in the leaves at my side.

I’m almost finished with the cigarette now.
But some part of me wants to stay out here,
just me and the stars
serendipity
in their quiet, endless beauty.
I hope it's true that we're all made of stars
She’s got daisies in her hair
Collected on a hike
With a bubbling brook laugh
We circled the bay on bike

Her blinding essence
We fit like a glove
Dive in the pool
And also a love

She’s got apple cider lips
And cinnamon filled eyes
Leaves drift off the trees
We promise no goodbyes

Her coat warm and ready
For the next blanket of snow
Carols in the square
Sleepy snuggles by the fireplace aglow
On some clear night
Their tale gets retold
Silent sobs fill the air
Thick with grief and memory
As he kneels by the body of a
Dancer

With a gear-made heart
And glassed copper eyes
The ghost of her maker lingers here
And her other half
A few feet away
All in their presence hear the whispers
Of monachopsis

A prince covered in life
Tendrils of Ivy
Spring from his ankles
Slashes of moss
Dapple his shoulders
While twisting trees
Paint his back

His sobs fill the air
Thick with grief and memory
As he kneels by the body of a
Dancer

His lover’s soul split
Two halves
Two dancers
Melomania led the charge
In his demise
A kiss sealed his prison

One heart made of gears
Another smashed on the ground
Two eyes made of copper
Another pair on the floor
Chimes in the distance
One dancer goes on
Unable to stop
There’s no mourning the other

A prince covered in death
Still tendrils of Ivy
Spring from his ankles
And slashes of moss
Dapple his shoulders
While twisting trees
Paint his back

A lover nearby
Corpses of dancers
Lay down beside
Chimes in the distance
Ring without greif
His soul spilt
A prince now alone
  Sep 15 Lauren Thornhill
T
Ever since my mom died
I’ve had life and death on my mind.
So it’s safe to say,
I’ve been feeling grateful for my life.
But if I could change one thing,
I’d still have you by my side.

Only even numbers on the radio
still because of you,
I always think of you and wonder
If you ever think of me too.

I don’t like who I used to be
Too careless and care free,
I could have fought harder for us.

If you were here today,
I wouldn’t give up as easily.
Your blanket of hair
Beneath a sunflower sky
We’re dancing away
From dangers unseen
Huddled in a shadow
And stolen in a silence
These someday birds
Will wait for us
To rebuild our wax made wings
And try to kiss the sun
They said I drowned,
but the truth is softer:
I laid myself down like an offering.

I spit river into their open mouths.
I bit the lilies in half.

Silk turned cathedral.
I let my dress balloon with river light.

The earth had nowhere else for me.

If you pressed your ear to the surface,
you would have heard me humming.
They didn’t write that part.

When they pulled me out,
I still had violets in my teeth.
I still had the nerve to look alive.

If ruin was the crown they gave me,
I wore it dripping.
I wore it bright.

You think you know the story:
girl, river, grief.

But the water was warm that day.
The sky was a soft ache.
I was tired of carrying everyone else’s ending.

So I wrote my own.

Not drowned.
Not tragic.
Not accepting their ending.
You called me for the
First time today just
To talk about the fireworks
Now everything I see reminds
Me of you and those
Stupid cowboy boots the
Ones you wear to church
(The ones I don’t actually hate)
That black jeep the
Pocket-knife collection
The perfect music you play
(I can no longer hear
Without seeing your face)
Your art
Your hats
Your hands
We talked about fireworks
Until late in the night now
I’m blinded by everything
You are but it’s okay
As long as it’s you
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