VANESSA JIMENEZ GABB

POET'S CENTO TO HER STAR

1.

my hands are dirty

my hands are dirty, too

I have felt it

the ground sure feels strange

how is that possible

luminous beings we are

here, between you, me

other places, the future, the past

only what you take with you

it'd take a thousand ships

ten thousand

three or four seasons

a period of civil war

they say it's quite a thing to see

the dune sea

we'd fly right through the star

a long time

fall in, fall in

it's like a dream

its energy surrounds us

like we're being watched

I saw a city in the clouds

the tree, the rock, everywhere

not this crude matter

closer

I must be allowed to speak

I'm not even sure which planet I'm from

it's much too rocky

it's too far out of range

it just let go of me and disappeared

I'm standing here in pieces

you know it to be true

help, I think I'm melting

2.

it's a very long drop

the cave

I am defenseless

why did you have to be so brave

ask me again sometime

I feel cold

that is why you fail

your eyes can deceive you

I feel the good in you

good against the living

that's something else

it won't be easy to hear but you must

remember your failure at the cave

there is no why

you've only just forgotten

the one you've been carrying inside

no there is another

it is the name of your true self

someone who loves you

that’s no moon

hear me

rise, my friend

you cannot hide forever

I have felt it

even between the land and the ship

it surrounds us and binds us

just images really, feelings

quicker, easier, more seductive

I can feel your anger

I can feel it

don’t be afraid

you're coming with me

see for yourself

3.

there's something familiar about this place

where are you

there's something out there

you're safe

I promise I won't hurt you

star destroyer

who are you?

bring her to me

gently now

to the horizon

your weapons

you will not need them

you will be

you will be

an elegant weapon for a more civilized age

you must unlearn what you have learned

we have no time for sorrows

fighters above you, coming in

no disintegrations

follow me on the next pass

I can't hold them off forever

I saw them

I can't keep the vision out of my head

a danger that looms like a shadow over everything we've built

patience, my friend

it is the future you see

always in motion the future

we're passing through the magnetic field

I can't go alone

let go

then we float away

one thing remains

echo

echo

all lines taken from Star Wars Episodes IV, V, & VI

VANESSA JIMENEZ GABB is the author of the forthcoming poetry collection, Basic Needs (Rescue Press, fall 2021) and Images for Radical Politics (Rescue Press, 2016). She is from and lives in Brooklyn, NY.