ASTRO-LUV (HARMONY OF THE WORLDS)
As for whether
I’m an astronomer
or an astrologer
I come from a time
when there was no
difference
and I’ve been around
long enough
to see
all the ways
to kill witches
including
rock-drowning, stake-burning
clean beheading, botched
beheading
and most ruthless of all
the smothering
of memory
so the things
our bones know
get shut up for good.
CHORUS
Planets falling toward the sun
Girl you better run run run
That’s why
groups of girls
are dangerous
are always
covenish
because we say
“neither astronomy
nor astrology”
(curtsy)
“dedicated to astro-
luv in all its forms”
(pinkies out)
“eye of newt
and scroll of blog”
(stir)
because in a circle
of belief
we come to find
what we already
might and
hope to know.
CHORUS
Planets falling toward the sun
Girl you better run run run
As for whether
I read the stars
to divine the future
or improve modern
civilization
just
lie next to me
for a while
and stare at the sky.
I deleted my
stargazer app
after the position
of the sun
under my feet
through the hill
and the earth’s
core
gave me such a scare
I preferred
my human tools
after all.
CHORUS
Planets falling toward the sun
Girl you better run run run
A certain amount
of superstition
I’ve always allowed—
wishing, clenching,
blinking, flipping
a light switch—
the size of what
I don’t know
minus what I believe.
Spring and sunrise
returning again
and again
though
we’re the ones
spinning.
What’s superstition
but a tango
with night
with winter
ending in a bloody
kiss.
CHORUS
Planets falling toward the sun
Girl you better run run run
If we could
believe
in a world like this
might as well
wish
for another.
The old rituals
ripped
from their targets
and we fill the gap
with names
of disorders.
As for whether
I’m an astronomer
or an astrologer
don’t try and tell me
about stars
as they really are.
I’ve felt my dwarfed will
poised where
the void doesn’t end.
CHORUS
Planets falling toward the sun
Girl you better run run run
As for whether.
I have always
known
how to make
one thing
stand for another.
I’ve lain on my back
and used
my hands and eyes
to trace pictures
in the sky
to guess
at the future
like any other
instrument
inside some other
dimension’s
black hole.
That such a dark life
could be ruled by
such bright stars.
CHORUS (3x)
Becca Klaver is the author of the poetry collection LA Liminal (Kore Press, 2010) and several chapbooks, including Merrily, Merrily (Lame House Press, 2013) and Nonstop Pop (Bloof Books, 2013). She holds a BA from the University of Southern California and an MFA from Columbia College Chicago, and is currently completing her PhD in English at Rutgers University. A founding editor of Switchback Books, she is currently co-editor of Electric Gurlesque, the second, electronic edition of the Gurlesque anthology, and of WEIRD SISTER, a new feminist website. Born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, she lives in Brooklyn, NY.