tektite

all horn, scale, and fearther,
dinosaur hulks in a pool of cool water

when a shine
glides across its black eyes
a falling, a burning,
a strange and violent sun.

i’ve noticed things are always falling
toward each other or away,
blue-shifted or red-shifted

and i cannot tell red from blue,
so i’m always surprised when things
vanish
or appear

i cannot see the meteors coming.
i’ve got too much dinosaur heritage.
i startle easily;
things swoop inside me and i cry out.
the shine moves across my eyes,
zaps me into glass,
into countless shards
that bury themselves in earth.

i come up bottle-green
millions of years later.
i have to look at myself
through a magnifying glass carefully
to make sure i’m real.

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© 2024 nessa jasper