Nebula Effect

A Poem

Photo by Isi Parente on Unsplash

were we made from the stuff of stars,
the magnificence of one cosmic implosion
that birthed the universe as we know it —
or were we just fragile like dust fading away?

i thought i saw the making of galaxies
in the setting suns of your eyes
falling closed, gently,
before sleep

and i might have whispered the words
of how lucky i was, how lucky i was
to live in a world with you in it

but i didn’t say them,
instead drawing closer to you
as you lost yourself in dreams

were we just moons in orbit around each other,
shadows crossing once upon a happenstance,
never to meet and always to part ways
with the idea of something like love?

i could have traced constellations
among the freckles across your skin
as you leaned into my touch,
the comfort of familiarity

and maybe i never showed you
the regard or the devotion you wanted
when your thoughts darkened like…