In Stars Above

Written June 17, 2025. Title: “In Stars Above.” Contest: This or That, Vol 34. Sponsor: Edward Ibeh. They say stars are dead things, light still traveling from a time before love undid me. I stare at them anyway. As if answers live in burning ghosts. He touched me like I was holy— then left like I was haunted. I called it devotion. But it was ruin dressed in warmth. Some nights I still flinch at kindness, as if it’s a lie waiting to grow teeth. I don’t write his name anymore, but it echoes in the quiet. Like the sound of glass after it’s broken. Pain taught me that love isn’t always gentle. That silence, too, can scream. So I name the stars after wounds I no longer bleed from. Not healed— just tired of aching. And if you ever find me watching the sky too long, know this: I’m not waiting for him. Just learning how to live without gravity.