empty incantation : wikipedia

excuse me, sorry, let’s begin.

sketch of a bird after
its nest collapses itself.

sketch of a bird after
the harmlit rays of light.

sketch of a bird after
the artist says that’s enough

and douses herself in water.
i hear there’s much to say

about bathtubs, their form,
and the bird-sketch agrees.

in 6.6 billion years the sun
may experience a helium flash

resulting in its core becoming
as bright as the combined luminosity

of all the stars in the milky way.
okay, says the bird-sketch, whistling

itself to sleep. sketch of the bird after
considering the heat-death of itself.

am i afraid to say i am sick of after?
am i afraid to say that there is nothing

before? the bird-sketch says you think
too much about disaster i am not

the artist in this conversation, i say,
relenting myself to the song.

Autumn Koors Foltz is a lesbian poet from Baltimore, Maryland currently studying at the University of Maine at Farmington. Their work can be found in superfroot magazine, fifth wheel press, The Sandy River Review, and the lickety~split, among others. Their moon is most certainly in Capricorn.