Embers
We are made of stellar ash
— Carl Sagan
I conceive the last number,
then add one, so it never ends,
making extra space in the unsubstantial,
chimeric spectacle of dark matter.
I am copper in the labyrinth
where minerals and wolves breathe—
the ocean my wisdom—astounded,
mired in halos, a recondite sort of ray.
I map the mathematical universe, forge
equations into stellar winds—serrated
bamboo—cognizant of power laws, infinity
triggering bullets from the Cosmos.
Hélène Cardona is a poet, literary translator, and actor, the recipient of numerous awards and honors including a Hemingway Grant and the USA Best Book Award. Her books include three poetry collections, most recently Life in Suspension (Salmon Poetry) and Dreaming My Animal Selves (Salmon Poetry); and three translations: Beyond Elsewhere (Gabriel Arnou-Laujeac, White Pine Press), Ce que nous portons (Dorianne Laux, Éditions du Cygne), and Walt Whitman’s Civil War Writings for WhitmanWeb. She co-edits Plume and Fulcrum: An Anthology of Poetry and Aesthetics, and contributes essays to The London Magazine. She holds a Master’s in American Literature from the Sorbonne, and taught at Hamilton College & Loyola Marymount University.
Image of mathematical universe by Veronika By, courtesy Shutterstock.
