While the communists
and capitalists were arguing
about the finish line of the space race
little ribbon worms
discovered faster than light travel.

It had very little to do with
their competitiveness
and much more to do with
their physiology—
those little
long
little
long
little
long
worms
stretch string-like
and contract: a spring
and travel worm-hole distances
fueled only by their
little-long, little-long
worm-bodies.

While a Soviet dog floats in
low-Earth orbit
ribbon worms coast
through the Kuiper Belt.

Man’s feet touches moon rock
five days after
ribbon worms
watch a star collapse,
just inches from its gravity pool.

Voyager 1 is the farthest
a man-made object
has ever been from Earth,
her concave metal face and
tripod legs drifting through
emptiness.

Still,
the ribbon worms are farther
propelled by warp and elasticity
and the ability to
expand.

Past dead stars
planet rings the size of solar systems
galactic thunder showers
binary suns
moons with moons with moons.

They are not going anywhere,
just going.