after “Interstellar” (2014)

the shining seas

have been absent seven years

lost to us all

theres finally enough corn for everyone again

but the drones are still roaming

& the clouds of dust rolling after them  

the horses are gone of course

the clydesdales the last to fork off

& wither away into the distance

in the last few decades

the moon has drifted into the background

become flat & mysterious once again 

but the sky that was once so magical has betrayed us to the dirt

& the dirt left us in our time of need 

with soot spread across our faces

so we curse the sky 

curse the rains

curse the salt beneath our feet 

no one alive has ever heard the blue danube

but the earth still keeps spinning 

throwing up new hills where valleys and cities used to be

so we continue

alone in our strange galaxy

only the embers in the distance

lighting our way

sterling-elizabeth arcadia (she/they) is a trans poet and diy tattooer in washington dc, where she watches birds and cares for her cats. she is currently working on a chapbook of queer ekphrastic love poems based on her friends’ instagram posts. her work has been published in Stone of Madness Press and Fuck Your Dreams Zine, and is forthcoming elsewhere.