are the stars you see at night already dead?

the pain you baked into my bones

is astronomical. it refuses to recognise
the passing of. stars a carpet of eyes,

every white speck a scar that says:
it might as well be happening right

now. clusters of cosmic curses in
every muscle, tendon and lymph node.

but then i read: the death rate for
visible stars in our milky way makes it

unlikely that any should be dead.

for the most part, the stars you see
with the naked eye are alive. so much

of my mythology needs revising.

Lorelei Bacht (she/they) is currently running out of ways to define herself, and would like to reside in a tranquil, quiet form of uncertainty for a while. Their recent work has appeared and/or are forthcoming in Anti-Heroin Chic, SWWIM, Sinking City, Barrelhouse, The Inflectionist Review, Menacing Hedge, Corporeal, and elsewhere. They are also on Instagram @lorelei.bacht.writer and Twitter @bachtlorelei.