Poetry: Rachel Stempel

 

Saturn’s 82 moons invent womanhood

Rachel Stempel

 

go, we say, we are heavy with melt, we say,
we say, because behind i-ness is phantom
ground, we say, i, we mean, we could’ve been
a star, at least, i could’ve been, we say, go,
we could’ve been, at least, i float, we say,
at least, i float, at least, we say, no
touch point, no, touch and go, we say, go,
i am heavy and i float and go, we say,
we say, a moon of vitreous, we say, melt,
we say, squeeze, we say, burst, we say,
fusion, we say, what are we made of, we say,
go and we say, what are we made of, we say, if
i could’ve been a star, we say, and float,
and burst, no touch point, we say, no ground,
all float, all float and vitreous, we say,
and what are we made of, we say,
methane traces and icicle jaw, and we say,
burst, get heavy, we say, get full, we say,
get dust and collapse, we say, i am heavy,
and we mean to say, go, the nursery collapsed
before i,

 
 

Poet Rachel StempelRachel Stempel is a genderqueer Ukrainian-Jewish poet and PhD student in English at Binghamton University. They are the author of the chapbook, Interiors (Foundlings Press, 2022), and their work has recently appeared in Penn Review, Gulf Stream Magazine, and Hobart.