Holy Cosmos
Published in Poem Of The Day
We've been told space
is like two dark lips colliding
like science fiction
it outlines a small cosmos
where fear hides in a glow
where negative space
becomes a place for wishing
a constellation of hazy tunes
of faint sharp vowels
a glossary of meteors
a telescope to god
a cold bright white
maybe distance damages us
maybe Jupiter
will suddenly surprise us
with a notion of holiness
but instead an old planet
takes over all the space
and we are reminded
of the traces of fire
in our gaze
defining our infidelities
About this poem
"'Holy Cosmos' is part of a cycle of Americana poems that I've been working on."
-Nathalie Handal
About Nathalie Handal
Nathalie Handal is the author of "The Republics" (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015). She teaches at Columbia University and lives in Queens, New York.
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The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day[at]poets.org.
(c) 2015 Nathalie Handal. Originally published by the Academy of American Poets, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate
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