Curve Waves
a hole
a floating rib
an admirer’s shadow
ribs with grief
a taper hall
an empty street
a black hole
named love
its low density
like clouds, dust, cosmic ray
at the center of the milky way
thousands of them
i bet it hurts
your lungs
as air expands
tears through tissue
you inhale all the oxygen
from us in fifteen seconds
who can dust your bones?
time is infinite
i wish upon stars
not old enough for light to reach
wish upon a name
to leave your lips as print
even moon rocks crumble
zero point zero four inches
a million years
call it what it feels like
love
space junk
a dirty collision
a chain reaction
a thick cloud of debris
traveling fast
Copyright © 2022 by Boderra Joe. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on November 11, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.
“This poem was inspired by eerie space sounds recorded and released by NASA, on which a particular recording of light curve waves was captured. The recording reminded me of a rapid heartbeat such that, when I listened to it, I thought of time, space, and love, and any other emotions that increase our heartbeat. The recording helped me shape the poem in the way it is, like a heartbeat on the monitor or a polygraph.”
—Boderra Joe
Boderra Joe
Boderra Joe is a Diné poet, journalist, and photographer. She is Bit’ahnii (Folded Arms Clan), born for Tabááha (Water’s Edge Clan). The author of Desert Teeth (Abalone Mountain Press, 2022), she is the recipient of fellowships from Willapa Bay AiR, the Indigenous Nations Poets (In-Na-Po), and the Bosque Redondo Memorial. She is from Bááhazł’ah (Twin Lakes), New Mexico, on the Navajo Nation.