Astronauts

A poem by Ricardo Sternberg
 

With cyclopic attention
his one good eye
on the matter at hand

the heart of the matter
he clearly saw
was her declining disposition

dispirited, yes, but worse
resigned to her loss
and oblivious to yours

what binding threads
there were, were severed
and like two astronauts

who escaped their tether
in empty, silent space
they float apart.

RICARDO STERNBERG's latest book of poetry is Some Dance (2014). His work has appeared in The Paris Review, The Walrus, The Nation, Poetry, and other magazines.