Nebula

Sometimes I am surprised to gaze 

at my reflection and find that

my skin is not purple,

or blue,

or green. Sometimes I am surprised

to find two arms and not four, to find

two legs and none more. Perhaps 

it is my mind that is blue 

and my heart that is green, like an overgrown plant 

in the summertime.

Perhaps

my eyes are broken. 

Two arms are not enough to grasp the space 

on this Earth. Two legs are not enough to

cover the ground of every forest. 

I carve through space. I glide over it. 

I claim it all 

to myself, saving nothing

for the others.

I come and I go from here 

to where? I walk and

I run and I dance, 

merely skimming the surface

of this giant orb as inexplicable forces 

pull me in, but I don’t

doubt for a second that I could soar

through the air, a greedy creature

hungry for all the space in the sky. 

I am a nebula, a beautiful,

enormous

cloud of space

dust, suspended

far away from anything solid. This body I occupy

is as wonderful

and colorful as any cloud 

in any corner of the universe. 

We are together and 

alone,

with only one another for company,

the most beautiful nebula in all of outer space,

whether or not we are green or blue. 

One day, gravity will forget me; I will

soar through the sky

a tiny purple dot to pedestrians. They’ll make a wish

on me: a shooting being in the night, the one

who escaped from this rock,

the one who stole all of the universe, all

of space, all of time. I will

sigh.

I did not steal anything. I am 

the universe. 

I am space. 

I am time. 

I am existence. 

Reviews

[Philip Muls]

To me this piece is about expansion, wanting more space. You want to have your moment, that one time that you steal all of the universe. Very well done.

[Dana Ferguson]

This was wonderful. I love thinking about space and this kind of concept and you managed to make our lives on this Earth look quite lovely :) Thank you for sharing this wonderful piece of work.