In the Helix Nebula, six hundred
and fifty lightyears away, who is to
say that there aren’t wheels behind your veins and
feathers, prolate spheres, and cometary
knots. Who is sure enough to say, in two
voices, what is enough or not enough.
In the Eye of God, you are six hundred
and fifty lightyears away and you are
writing your questions in blue ink. You are
eating strawberries and decorating
nebulas with feathers you have stolen
from curious pigeons. You are writing
the capital G, writing down questions
about the planetary nebula
NGC 7293, you are
keeping your questions to yourself. You are
thinking at a distance you are asking
too many questions, and you wouldn’t want
a pigeon, a god’s eye, or anything
to accuse you of stealing when you are
holding on with your fingernails, you are
hanging what you’re stealing from the floors and
walls. Who is to say what they’d accuse you
of doing. Who is to say what is enough.
MEGHAN KEMP-GEE is the author of The Animal in the Room (Coach House Books, 2023), as well as the poetry chapbooks What I Meant to Ask and Things to Buy in New Brunswick. She also co-created the webcomic CONTESTED STRIP, recently adapted as a graphic novel, ONE MORE YEAR. She is a PhD candidate at the University of New Brunswick and currently resides in North Vancouver BC.
