A star from which nothing save for light can escape
if and only if it beats the event horizon.
"You're going to be just like your father."
When he said that to me
walking to the gas station
many years ago
to buy smokes
I almost pulled the trigger that would send his teeth
straight back through his box and down his throat
to shit out later.
Later is now. And I am fighting gravity.
I told him he was right
after I digested what he said
from the switch to the target
and the 38 inches between.
I've mulled it over many times since.
Fought hard to prevent it when it bucked its head
through the hundreds of thousands of hundred
minutes.
Still livid. Still in flames. He saw it.
Why can't I?
I am not a falling star.
"The brightest burn most brief."
There are no quips
no witticisms
for a folding star.
No systems
can form around.
Heavy caution on approach.
Other dimensions rule.
The only sure bet
is coming close
will rocket you
farther than you could ever reach
on your own.
