Poetry Text
IF ONLY…
By Aziz Alhadi (He/Him)
Staff • Mesa CC

IF ONLY ….we All could see what we would see if we could see the earth from the heavens above
From the vast dark sea of silence, surrounded by the lantern stars, where even the light of the sun cannot catch the ever expanding mass called space.

Perhaps from this view we would see our lonely planet earth, unique among its sisters, our abode, so small in scope, yet so large in our world.

Perhaps we would all come to realize that our situation is special in so many ways, yet we are driven by so many wrongs:

IF ONLY ….we all could see what we would see if we could see the earth from the heavens above….perhaps we ALL could…

Seek for our differences to tolerate
For our behavior to moderate
And work for
All suffering to alleviate
All hate to eliminate
and
for all hunger to eradicate!

Our new vision would be to seek to thrive together as one, so we would cooperate
Learn from the toddlers and the infants for our minds to liberate
These children who are pure with no notion to hate or to discriminate
For what we learned, we can unlearn, through discovery on a new journey on a path we can formulate

We would learn about our diversity to appreciate
As we would imagine a world of only one color and one shade
We’d finally open our eyes to see the beauty of our kaleidoscope, our landscape
Then see the rainbow and venture to its end with the goal of our blindness to terminate

We would honor our beliefs, our parents, their parents and always be considerate
We would teach and be taught and extend our hands to the learner and the graduate
And we would always set a path to help those who feel disparaged and disconsolate
And work to end all oppression and one another to respect and appreciate

We would go forth with vision, conviction, virtue and dedicate our lives to the needy, the hungry and the desolate
And work for their existence to elevate and from their pain to alleviate.

We would resolve to protect our planet, its trees, its air, its animals, its oceans, its rivers and its lakes
We would work to limit our consumption for as our professors do consistently articulate
If we continue on our current path, we will need another earth in the next decade

Finally, we would seek to replace greed with charity
And seek to grab hold of the one rope of humanity
As a test of our faculties and ability to understand and to advocate
To have open hearts and open minds predominate
And be determined that the diversity of our earth and our people be a cause to promote and celebrate

For now, from here in space, what we would see if we could see what we could see is the beauty of our world, manifold, yet immaculate!


I am
By Sonia Baldeon (She/Her)
Student • Mesa CC

I am from cold wind, from heavy rain and mud,
From this far, far away land, that my heart refused to leave

I am from the grass that survives,
I am from the stones, from the dust on the quiet road,

I am from the flag my grandpa treasured,
from the stories he told me, wearing with pride, his military hat

I am from the paper toys, gramma made for me, in long afternoons,
I am from the song she taught me. A hymn then, an inheritance now.

I am from my parents dreams and fears,
I am, their playful child then, and their aged caregiver now

I am my journey, my tears and laughs, my scars and awards,
I am a blank paper to be written, to be written every day


FIRST ALL-CIVILIAN MISSION TO SPACE
By Karina Bone
She/Her • Student • PVCC

In the glimmering darkness
Of space the steady hands of gravity
Hold stars and planets in place

From this distance Earth is an island,
A hot-air balloon, a tiny blue marble
In the palm of a girl who dreamed

A father's dream come true onboard
This dragon of resilience blasting
Off louder than a volcano's heartbeat

As the blaze of light rotates to night
Cities come alive like seeds in a desert
After monsoon season's first rainfall

From this distance Earth is a memory,
A promise of home, a blossom of hope
In the palm of the first black female

Pilot of a starship rising to meet
The rim of morning and with sunshine
Paint a map towards brighter futures.


Travel Guide
By Professor Alexandra Burack (She/Her) F
aculty • Chandler-Gilbert CC

The mail has ceased
to find me; I am at large

in this landscape. Dissolving
here in the spacedark,

this incessant surf of stars and rocks,
not holding my breath before

the next magnetic wave takes
me, breathes into my mouth do not stay,

heaves and plunges me so my body
scrapes against dust that was once sand-

moored stones to know only the body
is limited. There are modes of travel

which begin with your back
to the horizon, sweeping out until

the shore slips under this sea; you can only hear
what sound like gulls, squalling for a place to land.


The Blue in My Eyes
By Robert Curtis ( / )
Faculty • Rio Salado College

The blue in my eyes
it’s diffused light,
waning and brightening
as in a movie theater;

the picture moves,
and verdant green and blues
slide smoothly across the window’s pane,
the hatch aflame with the rising of the sun
o’er the haze horizon;

the great salt water below
is reminiscent in my eyes,
it streams upon my face,
my race, sprung in all those
places I see below;

my slight smile is tremulous,
as I suddenly join the tremendous few,
who’ve seen the heavens like I and my fellows,
alive from this heavenly view.


The Perfect Day
By Evan Dangel (They/Them)
Student • Glendale CC

Once upon a time
The wind blew quietly on a warm summer day
The flowers were in full bloom
The laughter was infectious
The top of the Ferris wheel gave me my first kiss

Once upon a time
The cotton candy was a cloud upon my tongue
The bull's strength shook me from my head to my toes
My friend's sour face must have matched my cold one as we slurped down frozen lemonades
We had won the dance contest and only later felt the dance leave our stomachs

Once upon a time
My family gathered around me as I recalled the perfect day
We passed around the old polaroids
The sun finally set on this perfect day
And I slept forever peaceful


Galactic Voyage
By Kimberly Finnell-Mulvena (She/Her)
Student • Rio Salado College

Who am I but a speck...
A DRAGON cast off to sail
Amongst a sea of galaxies
My soul longing to go yonder
Beyond snow-capped mountains
Dappled with clouds
Erupting with thunderous roar
Beyond skyscrapers shining bright
With golden glory
Beyond big business
That happens down below -
Where tears of joy and sorrow
And the goodness and evil
That springs forth from
The hearts of humankind
Bubble up
From Earth’s vast surface
I rise above and toss the die,
Its number charts this DRAGON
Into an orbit far and high
Above a ball of blue,
And all sorts of wild...
I wave goodbye
To some lions, tigers and bears -
Oh my, I look, listen, and learn
To love a nebular explosion
Of gaseous blue-violet and golden
Plasma flames shooting
All sorts Of wonder
Making a concerted symphony
Of hydrogen percussion
And though, the sun shines
From far away it lights my journey
Across this sea called space
I set my sails on
The die’s calculated course
My mission...
I dare to dream of the unthinkable,
And impossible future
And push beyond realms
That have not yet been explored
Only to be marveled by the unfamiliar
And make my mark –
On the Moon, Earth, Venus, Mars...
Who am I but a speck...
A DRAGON cast off to sail
Amongst a sea of galaxies
My soul longing to go yonder
Perhaps the die will calculate
A course someday on curious
Ground found somewhere around
The Milky Way, Centaurus A, or Andromeda...
As I embark upon my infinite
Galactic voyage


Launch
By Karen Fitzsimons (She/Her)
Student • Gateway CC

I’m leaving for Mars
I’ve got to get out,
You say I belong here
Yet I’m filled with doubt.
I try to fit in
I’ve tried to sit tight,
But I’m giving up
And I’m leaving tonight.

I heard today’s news
The same everyday,
On our fellow humans
We constantly prey,
Or we turn the left cheek
Looking the other way.
We attempt not to see
But it’s there just the same.
And we’re longing for money,
We’re longing for fame.
I’m just longing to get myself out of this game.
I’m leaving for Mars
I won’t change my mind
I’m happy to leave this whole planet behind.

My spacecraft broke down.
I’m stuck for a while.
I’m trying with fervor
To maintain a smile.
I was so looking forward
To getting away.
A whole forty minutes
I’d gain in my day.
But I learned I’d be sunburned
And terribly cold.
Plus, I doubt they have shops
Where there’s oxygen sold.

I would be by myself
And though like it I might
The more thought I lend
It just doesn’t seem right.
If we cared for each other
Life would mean so much more.
We’d be sister and brother
And not feel so alone.

Goodness can flower by planting a seed.
True solidarity
That’s what we need.
It takes a whole village
Love and strength to succeed.
I’m not leaving for Mars
I’m staying right here
The world needs more good
To help bad disappear.


The Fire Within
By Bushra Khan (She/Her)
Student • Chandler-Gilbert CC

Is it not the perils of life that extinguish the fire that burns inside of us?
A fire that once was a mere spark of hope that took life’s form.
For with each blow from life's adversaries,
The fire that once beat with ardor was beat to ashes.
And what remains is not the soft murmur of existence in the fire's warmth,
But the corpse of innocent yearnings, wonders, and curiosities.
Still the fire can take form once again,
For even a burnt wick can re-create a spark.
If one only treads forward amidst the trials
And grasps the hopeful innocence in a tight clutch.
If one can only brave the world when dire,
Can their curious wonders be fueled by the fire.


Into the Wild
By Jamie Kouri (She/Her)
Student • Scottsdale CC

Into the wild and away from the norm. I’ll go distances, many journeys to feel
reborn.
As each day starts, a first breath is inhaled. A new experience is ahead, waiting to
be discovered.
Turning over every leaf, not leaving one stone uncovered.
As the night falls the exhale can be heard, a silent purrr, is what it is for sure.
Into the wild has brought me to the edge. Signs point to a couple different views.
One is to free fall out into the unknown, the other is to climb upward, to become.
airborne.
Into the wild is a life lived without chains, without strings, without barriers… It’s
all the same.
Into the wild, live free like a bird. Where life can be heard thru silence, no sound.
Where love can be felt in space, without any contact with the ground.
Into the wild is a place without walls. A place with no structure, only vast halls.
Let you guide your being to the place that awaits, this place that is safe, freeing,
and infinitely has grace.


Petal Dreams
By Bernadette La Mazza (She/Her)
Staff • Chandler-Gilbert CC

Gardenia.
Waxy, creamy-white flowers.
Shiny, leathery, dark green leaves.
It screams– You, are lovely.
It arrives in a beautiful bouquet with a note – Hi Mom.
They are wrapped in a long sash with a bow.
Gardenia.
Do you smell that?  She says when she brings them in. 
She has a familiar face.  That Roman nose, those big brown eyes.
Long flowing brown hair that flutters in the wind from the box fan.
She smiles when she sees me, that calming smile.
She talks about running in fields of lavender.
Of spring air, bees, hummingbirds and goofy labradoodles chasing butterflies.
Gardenia.
She says she was here yesterday, yet she never left,
She talks about her mutt named Brownie.
She loved my name so much she named her daughter after me.
Rosemarie – a little girl who loves white gardenias.
Gardenia.
The nurse says they’re peaceful.
I say they’re beautiful, they’re joy.
Their petals are soft and silky on my nose when I come close.
They pat my eyes and kiss my cheeks.
I see a little girl with long brown hair running towards me.
We eat cookies in the kitchen and make pizza for her dad.
He hugs me and tells me he is the luckiest man alive
He puts one in my hair.
Gardenia
I breathe in their perfume and hold my breath.
I see her dad holding my hand in his
He is young and handsome and nervous.
He slips the ring on my finger and fiddles with the gardenia in his lapel.
He says, “I love you Rosemarie, now and forever” He smiles.
He smiles like that woman who stops by
I let out my breath and see him sitting with me.
He holds my hand and looks in my eyes.
He has wrinkles and thinning hair, and that smile.
My heart flutters when he puts a gardenia in my hair.
Gardenia
She gives me a hug and Rosemarie tugs at my hem.
They say they will be back tomorrow.
Rosemarie will run to me with gardenias and a rosy sash.
A sash for her hair when I braid it and read her a story.
And that kind woman will be back.
The one who stops by to see me and bring me gardenias.



From Up Here
By Kassie Lamoreaux (She/Her)
Faculty • Mesa CC

Planet Earth
is a tangle of highways
and long lines for a happy meal

a mess of honking horns,
cigarette butts,
and racism

an ocean of dying fish,
and melting ice caps,

a place where people text and drive,
wildfires blaze
and economies crash. 

Planet Earth is home
to fighting families, greasy French fries,
and greed

to starving children,
to crumbling mansions.

But from up here,
the blue planet is a dot
amidst a backdrop of twinkling lights.

There’s no hatred or crime
which gives me an idea.
If I pay it forward

the next time I’m waiting in line
turn an enemy into a friend 

say a kind word,
recycle, forgive

maybe then, I can crumple hatred and greed
into a fat ball, toss it into outer space
where the sun’s gravitational pull

will drag it to the bright center
and burn it into nothing.



Butterflies Awakened
By Ally Miller (She/Her)
Student • Gateway CC

A Butterfly migrates to Michoacan; the cycle begins

Elva embodies an old soul who bakes a sweet homemade
Chocolate cake with fluffy white vanilla frosting

Her nectar is fruitful
Sweet and sticky
Like a plump prickly pear that was picked on a rainy day


And her sugar lures all the hummingbirds in the neighborhood
That sneak-a-peek to see her glowing heart
Through the blinds of her living room window but


Please keep in mind she was not scared of packing her bags
And signing the papers
She was fearless, and she made sure you knew


That monarchs fly sporadically alone they
Eat with their tongues
And plants poinsettias 

She now visits in different forms
Waving hello through new brown eyes

A Butterfly migrates to Michoacan; the cycle repeats




Wick
By Valerie Neal (She/Her)
Student • Mesa CC

The altar candle flames
in a ribbon of violet and blood orange,
my heart feels no pinch
as the wick sputters
and winks into cold carbon,

yet I feel the singe
at the ending
of my husband’s kiss
and hear echoes of loss
in every laugh.

No matter how still
I dwell in eternal
now-ness, this body
is consumed

like the shrinking wick of galaxies
steadily dropping ashes
at my feet. I am

I am afraid
of the burning
and the long slow flickering end
of the measured length of wick
ignited at my birth.

The crackle of moments
flaming into extinction,
as new moments
march steadily into the fire, bellowed
by my breath…sometimes a sigh,
sometimes

a whoop as my arms rise up
surrendered to the pulse
of Phoenix wings


Starlight
By Ali Jamison (She/Her)
Student • Gateway CC

Far up in the sky sits a billion shining gems
Lighting up the dark like rays bouncing off reflective glass
Their beams of light impacting space light-years away
Where Earth harvests its beauty for the gazers down below

A state of awe overtakes the crowd
Hoping to be inspired by the diamonds in the night
Eyes fluttering all around the sky
Relishing in the wonder their brains create

Yet, if these crystals in our galaxy could see them below
Wouldn’t they think the same?
A billion shining gems on a planet called Earth
Each with potential ready to burst like a magnificent supernova

They’re all one and the same
Although they might not be aware
Don’t let fear cause your glow to die out
But let your starlight guide you through your beautiful life

Just like those stars you admire that shine up above.


A View From Space
By Roxana Ortiz (She/Her)
Staff • Estrella Mountain CC

What do you see
Up there in the sky?
Afloat without gravity
Beyond the Kármán line

Do you see the totality
Of this humble Earth?
Our planet, our rock
Made of water and dirt

Do you feel the greatness
Of the microcosm of man?
Our place in the galaxy
I hope that you can

For what is our purpose
Down here on the ground?
If the sun, sky, and Earth
Are infinitely bound

From the vastness of space
Can you poetically erase
All the doubts in our minds?
That there is enough space
In this place
To create


Inspiration
By Magdaleno Perez (He/Him)
Student • Phoenix CC

Mankind looking in awe at the stars above
Wondering if the stars could talk, what would they say
Fueled by human resilience and the falcon nine to reach our goals
The Dragon will take us to where the light's shine so bright in the night
 Exploring the stars will bring humanity together not separated by your color.

As they reach the goal in the three-day orbit
The viewpoint begins to change
The world they left seems so distant
People with real problems that seem so big, like the
immense heartache from the pain of loved ones passing away
nothing they can fix by themselves
can only be helped by the generosity of a stranger
Bringing comfort in their time of need
If only to eases the pain for a moment
Generosity like a true soldier you will set the example for others to follow

Hope will shine from a cancer survivor.
A frontline healthcare worker has been chosen to be a star
Visible every day to be a beacon of light
Unlike Halley Comet, you might see twice in your life
Filled with the human spirit to never give up
Her smile will remind people hope is not far away after all.

Prosperity gives us a chance to be Jedi's
Tackling new adventures and challenges
 Like a teacher to a student, stars teach us
 There is room enough for all to shine
Light the path, teachers; you inspire the future of humanity to infinity and beyond.

Leadership can guide us through life's problems
Making choices that are right for all
One small step you choose may be one giant step for us all
Be strong leaders as we travel an uncharted time
A new Era where new beginnings will be born
From the seeds you plant, ideas will grow
Dream big people of the world, reach for it you never know
This dream started as a pledge made to a kindergarten hero.


Space Travel
By Ash L. Pechin (They/Them)
Student • Gateway CC

I feel alien sleeping with my sneakers on.

Snatches of headlights turn the inside of my eyelids pink,
keeping me half awake.

The speakers mumble out pieces of a plot,
putting me in a half dream.

The howling wind outside sings a lullaby,
the thundering wheels below me drum the beat.

I sigh, I peel my eyes open,
the green light of the radio winks at me.

My mother’s sweater is my makeshift blanket,
keeping the chilly hands of the AC from my shoulders.

Out the window is midnight, middle of nowhere,
taking us in, swallowing us whole.

My stomach disappears as we fly down a hill.
I let my jelly neck rock up with the motion,

for a moment, I float weightless in my seat.


Sky High
By Theresa Rabbitts (She/Her)
Staff • Rio Salado College

Free to float, enjoy, and dream
Sun is warm and moon serene
Clouds cover with white, black, grey
Stars suppressed by light of day
Birds, metal and feathered, race
Balloons escape with no trace
Planets often beyond sight
Spacecrafts explore day and night
Worm holes, black holes, and the void
Meteors, satellites and asteroids


I Wanted to Fly into Space
By Tim Ramsey (He/Him)
Faculty • Estrella Mountain CC

The American Space Program
and I
grew up together…

While the Mercury Men
and Gemini Giants
were learning how to sit calmly
in tight spaces
and how to soar in circles
around the planet
and how to walk around in space
tethered to their vehicle,

I was refusing to sit still,
opting instead for twirling in circles
and merely trying to stay
on my two tiny toddler feet
as I walked about
exploring my own little corner of the world.

I wanted to fly into space,
but I was far too young
to handle such an excursion…

Later, as the Apollo Adventurers
immersed themselves
in everything lunar and
in sciences with names
I could barely pronounce,

I stood in my backyard
and gazed at their intended destination
glowing in the evening sky.

I wanted to sail to the moon too,
but I was still in grade school.
(and I couldn’t even ride in a car –
much less a spaceship -
without getting motion sickness).

When the Skippers of Skylab
embarked on their journey
of experiments and exploration
and international camaraderie and cooperation,

I yearned for my very own
laboratory in space,
but I hadn’t yet finished
high school chemistry
or physics
or biology…

And then the Shepherds of the Shuttles…
invited one like me –
now a new teacher –
to soar with them…

I wanted to fly into space,
but all I could do was
stand with my students,
cry,
and try to believe
that this was not the end.

Here,
many years later,
The American Space Program
and I
have grown old
together…
and together
we still stand.

Today
a fellow teacher
embarks upon
the world’s very first
all-civilian space flight

I watch proudly
(and maybe a bit enviously as well)
and send her these words
to inspire her
to inspire other children who,
(like me so long ago)
dream of the mysteries and
the wonders of
the infinite space above them…

I wanted to fly into space,
and now,
perhaps
I finally can –
in spirit –
through the words that are flowing
from my writer’s pen.


Poem in Orbit
By Ray Dilip (He/Him)
Faculty • Mesa CC

…3, 2, 1, 0… I am the ‘Poem in Orbit’ on a launch mode
Going up and up shaking and shoving with a tremendous roar,
No more streams of Facebook, Social Media, and Tweets
Soon be in a trajectory speed following Space Mechanics.

Speeding away from the mother Earth at 18k mph
Faster and faster to power-flight trajectory mode,
So long the Earth, soon we will be worlds apart
Not quite as seems tethered with motherly touch

Nevertheless I am under the Newton’s gravitational pull,
Mission Control! Bit more speed to free-flight trajectory push;
Ah ha! The ‘Poem in Orbit’ is totally unshackled and free,
Just enough! The poem is ready for recital, social streams free.


Freckle Face
By Elise Shelton (She/Her)
Student • Rio Salado College

She is her own universe
With a mind so fantastically boundless
it’d take infinite lifetimes to explore

She is manifested by the galaxies
painted across her skin
I’ve never been one to place my faith in astrology
But her stars form constellations
I think I can believe in
And when she smiled,
for the first time I could fathom
the concept of a sun god

And I can’t blame ancient Egyptians
or Mayans
or Greeks
for believing so earnestly in solar deity
Suddenly, I get it.
Their songs
and rituals
and devotion,
everything.
I get it.
They were trying to become planets
And I wouldn’t mind revolving around her.


Northern Lights
By Kareem Soliman (He/Him)
Student • Gateway CC

Look up to the stars at night
To see two souls
Forever stuck
In time and space
Aligned
Intertwined
Side by side
Purple and green lights,
Heterochromic eyes
Celestial reflection of you and I
Gemini


When Souls Connect
By Robert Sternberg (He/Him)
Student • Chandler-Gilbert CC

A moment of friendship
like a comet
            transports the soul to a haven beyond the stratosphere.
                        An impermeable cocoon
                                    where earthly struggles are washed away.

Unlike the comet
whose matrix is chained
to a force greater than itself,
            the soul transmigrates
            at will
            to join its companions
                        within an unbound sphere of friendship
                        sanctified by infinity.

Happiness is only real when shared.


Hope
By Alex Stevens (She/Her)
Student • Paradise Valley CC

Hope looks like a sparkling new water well.
Hope feels like the tingle of a lover’s first delicate caress.
It sounds like a Hallelujah chorus blasting up to the heavens.
Hope smells like a ripe strawberry swaddled in deep sunshine.
I know hope looks like a stairway to a star,
but sometimes it feels like flailing in a menacing ocean.
Sometimes hope is a dirty, flattened penny on a hot road.
Sometimes it’s a lighthouse.


What is Due
By Persephone Pilibossian (She/Her)
Student • Rio Salado College

We deserve to change, my love.
To see the world outside these panes of glass
To break each habit,
That keep us perpetually trapped.
We deserve kindness, my love.
To dip our toes into the crystalline pool of relief,
Dance to a silent sonnet,
Lose ourselves in restful sleep.
We deserve the night, my love.
A fearless, starry flight,
To walk the across spires of midnight
And shield our eyes against the burning fluorescent lights.

But above all else,

We deserve poetry, my love.
Warm and sonorous,
Heady and rich,
Thick in our throats,
And wet on our lips.

There will always be those who say
We are allowed none of these things.
Not comfort nor relief,
Not kindness or the freedom to speak,
Not health or a reprieve from grief.

But they are wrong, my love.
They cannot comprehend.
We deserve sweetness every now and then,
We deserve the chance to mend.


Flannel
By Maggie Tran (She/Her)
Student • Mesa CC

I wear a red and black plaid flannel like the checkerboard you used to play on.
When it’s time to go, only I know.
Canadian range
Columbian rain
Cascadian river
Circadian rhythm
Some scene sprouts with serendipity
In Pacific Northwest passage.
Sunshine and clouds sky dance in marriage, the sea its audience
While ocean tides abound, rock an island of the sound
The coast heaves and breathes to no end
Stirring up mist
Where eternity is no pipe dream.
But a lighthouse knows when its due, shining the way to solid ground.
Fern fronds fan the forest floor
Knuckles knock on cedar, good spirits may be here
Roots percolate through the turmoil of the soil
It’s always tree o’clock somewhere!
Indefinite stretching like an awoken fellow
When the strings pluck
When bundling boxes of voices unite
When a train wreck whistles through Whistler
When spray paint dons confusing colors
Watching wise water leap off a cliff at the ready.
At river’s end
Tributaries carved with intricacy
But how docile the lazy lakeside
Brushing the horizon with lapping lullabies.
No red carpet but blue waterways
Running through rapids
Rubbing against rocks
Between our valley
The mountains nodding their peaks in approval
To no sky beginning anew
Taking each challenge in circular motions
Knowing that I can fall back on the flannel
I’m just a humble hitchhiker hitting the highway
From the Sea to the Sky.


Somewhere Soaring Through Cosmic Honah Lee
By Sarah Tran (She/Her)
Student • Chandler-Gilbert CC

Somewhere soaring through cosmic Honah Lee,
with massive, outstretched solar panel wings,
living peacefully by the star-filled sea.
 
Seven dreaming astronauts he carries,
sailed starry-eyed into space frolicking
somewhere, soaring through cosmic Honah Lee.
 
The pearlescent edge of infinity-
like sea foam on the coast of his dwelling-
coasting quietly in the star-filled sea.
 
Harboring a song in his heart as he
ruptures the atmosphere, proudly blazing
somewhere, soaring through cosmic Honah Lee.
 
Propelled into a dreamer’s galaxy,
after years he is still as enchanting,
racing rapidly though the star-filled sea.

Jackie’s Puff shed viridian scales. He
lost his mighty cry but is reclaiming
his majesty in outer space, freely
roaring happily through that star-filled sea.


Hunger for Sleep
By Ly Tran-Nguyen (She/Her)
Faculty • Mesa CC

The little child sat motionless by the
Broken window
Staring silently into the cold, winter space
With blood-red, swollen eyes,
As if he were a mannequin
In an empty department store.
His lonely world was usually dead silent,
But today the sound of his growling, empty belly
Filled the room like an angry wildcat.
Still he sat and waited,
And waited
For that aged woman to come home
With that piece of tasteless, dry bread.

Soon the yellow mass of brightness in the sky
Settled down,
As if it were a tired, old woman coming
Home from a hard day’s work.
And the child’s eyes closed slowly
Putting out all the
Unpleasant images of his life.
He was now asleep.
He was now at peace,
For his hunger fell asleep
Beside him.


All It Takes
By Nailah Turkson (She/Her)
Student • Rio Salado College

One spark is all it takes
To create a fire that burns brighter than the sun
One tiny pebble is all it takes
To create an avalanche, burying any in its path

It only takes one happy accident
To create a chain reaction
And it only takes one person
To create a world of difference

Nothing ever got accomplished by sitting around
By expecting other people to do the work
By thinking you’re too small, too insignificant
To make a change

“I’m only one person,” you say
“I’d only be one drop in this vast ocean”
Yes, you are only one person, but
You have no idea of the power you hold

You are important, and you can make a difference
Because, after all
One spark is all it takes
To change the world


The Dust of Us
By Cody Wilson (He/Him)
Faculty • Phoenix College

One thing that's remarkable about dust
             is that it sticks around
—Andrea Ferro, dust expert
           
My body glides across
shelves, collects in the cut up
shirts you use to clean.
I float around like star stuff
waiting to nebulize.
You can print your finger
in me, drag me across the table.
I’m under your nails.

You watch me float
through the narrow fingers
of light knuckled by each blind,
then exhale, and I slope
over your breath.
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