[574] Astrologers of Our Doom

I wonder if my last words would include your name,⁣⁣
the two syllables worn in the years of saying⁣
Or if you would find mine in the footnotes⁣⁣
of some history you are still composing⁣
⁣⁣
Are we the astrologers of our doom,⁣⁣
reading in each other’s voice⁣
the slow approach of the end we have named,⁣⁣
anticipating future hurt, dreaming future scenarios?⁣⁣
⁣⁣
I remember your arms⁣
not the length of them, but the feeling,⁣⁣
the way the world became⁣⁣
a thing that could sustain itself,⁣⁣
needing nothing beyond that radius⁣⁣
⁣⁣
I remember your eyes⁣⁣
and how they arrest me⁣⁣
the way fire consumes what it holds ⁣
consuming, eternal, still⁣⁣
⁣⁣
I remember our hands,⁣⁣
the destiny written in their joining,⁣⁣
the future neither of us⁣⁣
had the courage yet to read⁣ in our lines⁣
⁣⁣
And now I find myself⁣⁣
at the edge of forgetting⁣
not all at once, but slowly,⁣⁣
the way a book begins to rust words⁣
left too long in the light⁣⁣
⁣⁣
So I try to remember⁣⁣
not because memory is enough⁣⁣
But because trying⁣ and waiting⁣
is the only tenderness I am allowed to give


NaPoWriMo Day 9 prompt – I wonder if my last words would include your name by @versesfromvi. Didn’t follow NaPoWrimo website’s prompt as I’ve already written a poem from an animal’s perspective on day 5. You can read it here – A Report to My Colony

8 responses to “[574] Astrologers of Our Doom”

  1. This is a quietly devastating poem—every line lands with the weight of something both held and let go. The way you move between intimacy and distance (“two syllables worn in the years of saying” / “footnotes of some history you are still composing”) is masterful. I especially love the astrologers of our doom: how we learn to read disaster in the very voices we love. And that closing turn—trying and waiting as the only tenderness allowed—is going to stay with me for a long time. Thank you for writing this, Rahul 🤝

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