During a week-long writing residency on the Washington coast, fellow poet Ronda Piszk Broach stopped by with one of her excellent writing prompts. That same morning I’d woken early enough to see the constellation, Leo. As I conducted research, I learned there are several galaxies within Leo, along with a humungous cloud of hydrogen/helium gas. I guess I was aiming to provide a contrast between our puny human perspective and the enormity of just one human-concocted constellation.

Martha Silano is a writer living with a diagnosis of ALS. Her most recent collection is Gravity Assist (Saturnalia Books, 2019). Martha’s poems have appeared in Poetry, Paris Review, American Poetry Review, and The Best American Poetry series, among others.

W: marthasilano.net
X: @marthasilano
I: @marthasilano
F: martha.silano
B: @marthasilano
Th: @marthasilano