Chloe Clark
A Consolation of Stars
One day, the world will be swallowed
By the sun, though it's more likely
We’ll have already devastated it by then
We are not so kind to our homes
The ones we live in
The ones we make in other
People
We always imagine routes out
Colonizing other planets
In our heads
Even though
The earth is still around us
The one we love is still
Right next to us
We think: it's okay if we wreck
This, make this mistake
There are other places
We can go
We map trajectories of
Opportunities we could have
In every face, in every bit
Of unoccupied space
This is a coping mechanism
As much as it is
A self destructive one:
We need to know
We had always known
It would go bad
But here is what I will promise
To you: when I pack
My bags for Mars,
Map the way I'll arc
Past stars, I will
Still, always,
Take you with me
By the sun, though it's more likely
We’ll have already devastated it by then
We are not so kind to our homes
The ones we live in
The ones we make in other
People
We always imagine routes out
Colonizing other planets
In our heads
Even though
The earth is still around us
The one we love is still
Right next to us
We think: it's okay if we wreck
This, make this mistake
There are other places
We can go
We map trajectories of
Opportunities we could have
In every face, in every bit
Of unoccupied space
This is a coping mechanism
As much as it is
A self destructive one:
We need to know
We had always known
It would go bad
But here is what I will promise
To you: when I pack
My bags for Mars,
Map the way I'll arc
Past stars, I will
Still, always,
Take you with me
Biography
Chloe N. Clark's (she/her/hers) work appears in Apex, Booth, Glass, Little Fiction, Uncanny, and more. Her poetry collection, Your Strange Fortune, is forthcoming from Vegetarian Alcoholic Press and she is co-editor-in-chief of Cotton Xenomorph. Find her on Twitter @PintsNCupcakes