“PQRST” by Suzanne Palmer

“PQRST” by Suzanne Palmer

Contract
the rush, the determined push
of electricity and muscle,

life moves—
     breath, wonder, joy, love
     rapids, narrows, swell and rock,
     rain drums against earth
     stars dance through the dust
          spinning up planets

     push out

Expand
the flow, the pull of change
drawn through veined corridors,

life is—
     memory, grief, worry, regret
     shallows, tide pools, puddle and lull,
     dunes that heed only ancient winds,
     nebulas that gather dust of the dead
          and begin everything anew

     pull back

Beat.


Suzanne Palmer is a writer and artist who lives in the beautiful hills of western Massachusetts. Her short fiction and poetry has appeared in Asimov’s and other places, and her second novel, Driving the Deep, comes out from DAW in May.