Passage unavailable – the paradise portal occludes.

My stellar smile eclipsed behind sealed lips, I abort abandon,

sabotage surrender. Co-existence or melding of minds –

please decide. Molecular sadness beams to ground control.

The ocular flash fails: a double-exposure of once-riveted,

simulation-tested lover-explorers. I find a different wavelength.

The carbon dioxide of my sigh reaches your lungs –

I watch you gasp for oxygen like an astronaut

whose helmet has been ripped off in zero atmosphere.

(First published in Otoliths, Issue 46.)