The Sky

By Jessica Knight

the sky is a desert

it’s clouds, nomadic cities

hiding the secret lives of stars

How to Get Free

By Jessica Knight

Beneath my breast is an opened-mouthed beak

with a throat that gleams

and croaks an old song;

a naked tune

that shines.

I spring; small, tender

teary-eyed and strong

from the detritus of a spent and emptied dream.

Raw, precious and without polish

there is no thing in me or on me to hide.

Light is low

senses are high

orange peel, black tea and blossoms call this hungry bird forward.

There is ripe fruit, enough for two-

me and the darker shape that follows at my feet

showing me with each bite

how to get free.

Bellies full from food sweet and bitter

we walk on

bare heels building new worlds

as we hum and howl

to the sky.

Before We Explode

By Jessica Knight

You know how this city’s smog shrouds stars

and it’s asphalt snakes smother the ground?

What stories do you think that muffles,

banging out their beat from underworld drums?

Which are tucked behind polluted skies,

bright as our sun sunk into quicksand

and what did they used to say?

You are beautiful and full of stars.

What in this concrete world quieted your song?

I cannot understand the universe of you-

only the secrets you want me to know-

and if we’re drowning out the old light,

well, we’re going to need yours more than ever.

You are loved and made of earth.

What in these dimmed nights swallowed your spirit,

and how are we going to free it?

If they’re building walls where our roots once reached,

well, we’ll need to start digging tunnels.

I wonder,

if my body exploded like an old star,

what descendants would it make

and what tale would be left on their tongue?

My body is going to explode like an old star.

What descendants will it make

and what tale will be left on their tongue?

Our oldest relative’s body exploded.

We are the descendants it made.

What is the tale on our tongue?

This city is loud but it won’t silence the sky we are

every time we breathe.

This road is thick

but my chest still thumps with something

hidden far beneath it.

What we can’t read from clouds

we can word from hearts.

Before we explode, for we are stars

and stars explode

I pray we use our lips

and speak them.