When you find yourself alone
without a winter coat,
when mourning holds you open
with its fierce grace,
when you find out that every life
is a ghost story,
you can wade out through the garden
of the darkness
and lie down and look up
at the wild stars,
the silent flames that cradled you
in childhood
and which, because their dying light
survives them, tell you that the distances
are infinite, that the ghosts that hold you
are hands that vanished long ago,
and that no one, no one close is on their way.
Only you can reach your life in time.
Joseph Fasano is an American poet, novelist, and songwriter. His novels include The Swallows of Lunetto (Maudlin House, 2022) and The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing (Platypus Press, 2020), which was named one of the “Best Small Press Books of 2020.” His books of poetry include The Crossing (2018), Vincent (2015), Inheritance (2014), and Fugue for Other Hands (2013), which was nominated for the Poets’ Prize. His honors include the Rattle Poetry Prize, the Cider Press Review Book Award, and seven Pushcart Prize nominations. His work has been widely translated and anthologized, most recently in The Forward Book of Poetry 2022 (Faber and Faber). He is the host of the Daily Poetry Thread on Twitter at @Joseph_Fasano_.
Kerry Lush is a photographer, designer, and stylist living in Queensland, Australia. Her work can be viewed on Facebook at Lush Creations https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066787272286 and on Instagram at hybrid_queen_photography.
