“Probing Voyages” and “La Mosca”

by Ben Nardolilli

“Probing Voyages”

Making observations and gleaning
Data from the satellite life I am living,
The years are secure in their orbits,
And I pass through them without
Finding enough gravity to support me

The sun of my birth grows distant
And cold behind me in my journey,
Up ahead, there are constellations
Though none of them are as bright
As that glowing origin I shot out of

Sure, those other stars have their uses,
They provide a way to navigate ahead
Through the darkness, where I discover
And name new shapes in the sky,
Knowing there will never be a perigee

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“La Mosca”

You were right not to trust me at first,
I did try to kill you
While you flew around the entrance
At the bottom of the stairs,
But I gave up, and opened the doors
To let you out, I could see
That was what you wanted, an escape,
Just like me, ready to leave too,
Instead, you ignored
The easy way back out, and fluttered
Up to window above the door,
The door I still held wide open for you
To fly through to the street,
Where a Promised Land
Of sun-kissed garbage waited outside,
You continued to rise
And I admired your vibrating flight,
Then pitied your descent,
As the teasing window held you back
And confused by the glare,
You drifted downward
Buzzing straight into the web
Of a spider the size of your ambitious eye

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