i never understood why poets were obsessed
with space, until the stars cut me loose.
it’s alright, i tell myself,
because she’s still floating;
she’s still in love.
this is as clear as a comet’s course:
even now, her voyager eyes dance around
the constellations, glimmering
with flighty dreams.
i exhale. i am sinking into
the depths of the galaxy’s abyss,
consigned to the emptiness between lines
of prose, the crinkle in an uncharted frontier.
yes, she still loves something
with her round moon heart,
and i let myself be content to stargaze.
Trini Rogando is a junior at TJHSST in Alexandria, Virginia. Her work has been published in Kalopsia Literary Journal and she was recently named a National Winner of the National High School Poetry Contest. If she’s not writing, you’ll most likely find her procrastinating on physics homework or fiddling with four marimba mallets. She wants to remind everyone to not take life too seriously; no one ever gets out alive.