From Near Miss. Published by Nightwood Editions in 2019. Laura Matwichuk’s poems have appeared in literary journals in Canada and the US. She was a finalist for the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers and shortlisted for Arc Poetry Magazine’s Poem of the Year.

I’m supermassive: a black hole
into which
have disappeared. Interstellar
magnet, collapsed object, feature-
less by design. Folks at Hubble
speculate about my malevolence,
futz around with digital renderings.
Nestled deep inside elliptical galaxy
NGC 4889,
,
I sulk and wait, knowing what I know.
Whipped meringue
in a porcelain mixing bowl.
For now, all is quiet in squid-ink
oblivion—I’ve lost my appetite
for stars. Full of secrets, pent-up
anxiety, I want someone to know me.