Planet Nine

You talk to me intently of black holes.
I slip my hand into yours,
unnoticed.
You are absorbed
in thoughts astronomical.
I am stealing time.
Swallowed by a constellation
of brighter stars
and suddenly you are on
the cusp of the cusp
of a place
where I cannot follow.
Unstoppable,
these forces that crush galaxies,
make nebulae collide,
tear photon from photon,
hand from hand.

 

 

Shortlisted in the Glasgow Women’s Library CalmSlam in 2021, Fiona Heatlie‘s work has subsequently
been published in a number of anthologies and journals, including by Poetry Scotland, Dreich,
Acid Bath Publishing, and Green Ink Poetry. She shares her work on Instagram
@fionaheatliepoetry