GIVE ME A SIGN BY SEBASTIAN YŪE The day I came into the world there were no bodies, neither astral nor mortal to mark the time and date The day I came into the world the stars stood still— no celestial celebration for a baby born in a Chinese gutter. The sun was down and the clouds masked the moon and I guess heaven’s herald was off that day, I like to think they were on a tropical holiday somewhere nice with no sidereal map to orient and no way to chart a path I wander from point to point, drawing my own constellations across quadrants I hang my destiny like a corpse in the sky In the vast expanse of the galaxy, I’ll claim space not caring what coulda, woulda, shoulda been written in the stars because after I go supernova, the sky’ll be too dark to read!
Previously published in Fire From the Heart, Three Ocean Press, 2021. 9
