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What's left is a constellation

what’s left is a constellation you can see
expanding across the ceiling
caught in the pull of different forces
 
train—snow—swan—necklace—root—pond
 
a blast of winter spinning at its heart
 
aphid—sex—island—olive—start—hum
 
the attraction between bodies slowly giving way
until everything appears in retrograde or retreat
 
blithe—dream—tropic—ox—study—day
 
& there is nothing to be done
not in the offices of prayer
not in the poses you find in workbooks
 
slate—carnation—father—fall—breach—rag
 
you can only lie across your narrow bed
& watch the satellites begin to burn
stars forming shapes you already knew
dimming as they near the ends of light
 
please—always—gulf—river—guitar—wait
 
but you can still see you can always see it there
the outline of what’s left as it keeps its word
a faint map to other worlds you built once
when the only law you loved was gravity
 
distant—wish—camera—purple—sun— ​
Picture
Paul Henry. A Section of the Constellation Cygnus, 1885. Albumen silver print from glass negative. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Jeremy Allan Hawkins is the author of A Clean Edge, selected by Richard Siken as winner of the 2016 BOAAT Chapbook Contest. His poetry has appeared in Best New Poets 2016, the extended program of the 2018 Venice Biennale di Architettura, and the inaugural 2018 edition of the Rencontre Mondiale de la Poésie, as well as literary journals in the United States and Europe. He lives in France, where he has recently launched the Slight Dérive Reading Series.
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  • Home
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  • Guidelines