Size / / /

A photograph of my father

in his space suit

sits on the dresser,

tough, tensile, covering

his entire body, but for the eyes.

On one side is a toy

three-stage rocket, on the other,

a plastic replica of the

solar system, with Mercury missing,

Saturn's rings broken.

Once, my tiny hand zoomed

that vessel from planet to planet,

crash-landing on Venus,

circling Mars, rocking and rolling

through the storms of Jupiter.

Now, everything gathers dust,

the toys, and especially the photograph,

still life, that oxymoron for the

modem age, and eyes that stare

24/7, sustained by glossy paper.

So where is he now?

Out beyond Pluto? The Milky Way?

He always said no

universe could hold him.

He really meant no child could.




John Grey can be reached by email at jgrey10233@aol.com. You can find more of John's work in our archives.
Current Issue
4 Nov 2024

“Did you know,” the witch says, “that a witch has no heart of her own?”
Outsiders, Off-worlders {how quickly one carves out a corner of the cosmos, / claims a singular celestial body as [o u r s] in the scope of infinity}
Lunar enby folks across here
Wednesday: The 2024 Ignyte Award for Best Novel Shortlist, Part Two 
Friday: A Place Between Waking and Forgetting by Eugen Bacon 
Issue 28 Oct 2024
Issue 21 Oct 2024
By: KT Bryski
Podcast read by: Devin Martin
Issue 14 Oct 2024
Issue 7 Oct 2024
By: Christopher Blake
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 30 Sep 2024
Issue 23 Sep 2024
By: LeeAnn Perry
Art by: nino
Issue 16 Sep 2024
Issue 9 Sep 2024
Issue 2 Sep 2024
Issue 26 Aug 2024
Load More