August

Issue 35

Rock, bullet sized, shoots through space, nebula debris from a silent blast. Skims over Sombrero Galaxy’s broad brim. Bounces off a spherical ship’s hull; ricochets into the vast intergalactic void. Light-years dwindle, bright Milky Way ahead. Swarms of bugs land; translucent, ion wings propel it to Orion. Stone foxtrots between Pluto and Charon’s dance. Triton chases meteor past Neptune’s rings. Curious space dragon from Kuiper Belt scans rock’s value for its collection. Stone beats Uranus to its intersection. Saturn’s pull sling-shots its chaotic trajectory. Meteor dodges Jupiter’s wildly orbiting moons. Mars, red and angry, shoves rock past Earth’s moon. The meteor, carrying stardust, glows red upon atmospheric entry, burning, breaking up, vaporizing to dust particles, distant, alien: I inhale deeply.