I carry a galaxy in my pocket.
I bring it out when I’m nervous and need
to fiddle. When life overwhelms me,
the swirling colors soothe me and the soft
flickering stars in its depth are calling
for me. I hear the songs of thousand suns,
the murmurs of ever-expanding black holes,
the sizzling of the neutron stars. They are
my lullaby. I breath in and out in rhythm
with its outer limits. I close my eyes
and I see supernovas. Sometimes, I count stellar
systems to sleep. At sunrise, I see the dawn
of a hundred million planets. When I’m ready
to face the world again, I fold my galaxy
neatly and carefully, so that void won’t spill
on my shoes, so that space and time won’t rip
the seams of my jeans and I put it back
in my pocket.
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Eva Papasoulioti is a Greek writer of speculative fiction and poetry. Her work has appeared in Uncanny, Strange Horizons, Nature Futures, Heartlines Spec, and elsewhere, and has been nominated for the Rhysling and Dwarf Stars Awards. She lives in Athens with her spouse and their two cats. You can find her on X/twitter and Bluesky @epapasoulioti and on her blog plothopes.com. |