Constellations

by Trevor Moffa

Pockmarks in the Pittsburgh dark
Midnight oil burning portals open
Like potholes in the empty streets
Peopled apartments, blocks of offices
Being cleaned for morning, light
Left on in a hurry

Warm me in the work of wonder
Naming these constellations between us stars
A bridge apart, invitations in the vertical
Obsidian, numbered, twinkling
Leaking from windows like restless
Toes over the edges of beds

Half a world away the sun is up
Every light hums alive, unnoticed
Here, it will be like that tomorrow
It was like that today. But tonight
It’s only us, and we can call them what we like
These imagined lines between lights

Trevor Moffa is a poet and former coal miner, park ranger, bookseller, and button pusher from Pittsburgh, PA.

City of Asylum believes that All Pittsburghers are Poets. With the Poem of the Week series, we seek to increase the readership and appreciation of poetry locally by publishing poems written by residents of Allegheny County of all ages and levels of experience. In partnership with the Poetry Editors at Sampsonia Way Magazine, City of Asylum advances our mission to defend, celebrate, and build on creative freedom of expression. This project received a RADical ImPAct Grant from the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD).