glowing on the corner
of National Ave
sparkling on the wet
pavement
like a constellation
heaped on the ground
thoughts keep me
awake
turning and tossing
blankets thrown to
the floor in a pile of frustration
it’s quiet
the sky opened up
like i never could
and drenched the
earth in wind and rain
i sat on the porch
at 5:58am
because the thunder
called me
and the lightning
comforted me
it felt nice to know
that i was not the only one
whose existence was
merely something of chance
the storm raged on
as did the one
beneath my skin
in the dark with a
tight throat
burning eyes and a
stinging nose
longing to go home
even though I was
under a roof with a father and sister
who loved me
in a place i called
home
knowing full well
that the air i breathe sits like a boulder in my chest
and i struggle to
stand
grasping desperately
at the railings
i’ve been holding my
breath so long
waiting for a miracle
that my lungs turned
to sails
so that instead of
drowning
i could live in the
rain and sail the storm
just as the sun began
to peek
over the crests of
the trees
and suddenly the
world was lonely again
just a small cosmic
god in a kingdom of things
greater than anything
imaginable
i wonder how it would
taste
to sip the stars
and to place each of
saturn's rings
on my fingers
how would it feel
to lay down in a
blanket of time’s worn fabric
would moondust and
meteorites grace the crown of my head
with gems of frosted
crystals and small galaxies
what if my hands
could create a universe
what if it were
perfect?
-M.A.
