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Cosmic Expansion

Gretchen Rockwell

Start in the middle she says so I crank up my headphones & go for it. prose  poems                                              are the way to go when we talk about space something about the density like a star in collapse or the way you can leave holes     like nebulae I’m not sure what this poem is going to be about but that’s poetry         isn’t it stumbling your way along until you find an answer the answer you’re looking for if you’re looking for an answer at all two Deaf women were instrumental in the classification of  stars        & their luminosity did you know that? I  didn’t I love learning          things like that I wish I’d learned them earlier the universe is expanding all the time & that discovery was made possible by Henrietta Swan Leavitt I’m glad                    she had another woman there to share her discovery I write about space when I’m lonely or sad & need to remind myself of what fills the distance                    between stars I write about space when I’m overjoyed                   & need to remind myself of the stars between the distances I write about Henrietta Swan Leavitt & Annie Jump Cannon because they deserve to be remembered              because the space between stars is vast & cold but their light burns bright        in pulses reminds us there are answers           if we look for them

Gretchen Rockwell is a queer poet currently living in Scotland. Xe is the author of the forthcoming chapbook Lexicon of Future Selves (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press) and two microchapbooks; xer work has most recently appeared in AGNI, perhappened mag, Whale Road Review, and elsewhere. Gretchen enjoys writing poetry about gender, history, myth, science, space, and unusual connections – find xer at www.gretchenrockwell.com or on Twitter at @daft_rockwell.

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