Poetry By Merril D. Smith

Photo by Klemen Vrankar on Unsplash

The Hiccups Of Stars

Sometimes I think of those ravenous stars 
gulping pieces of the cosmos,
eating too much, too fast,

voluptuous giants at the end of life
hiccupping bursts of light, 

and

burped shells 
collide

collide

	collide!


A massive, silent fireworks display,

I imagine

because if you’re a star

even indigestion 
is beautiful

and when they die,
frondescent feathers flash, and flare
incandescent 

laying luminous eggs
to hatch new stars, to fledge new worlds.

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Merril D. Smith writes from southern New Jersey. Her work has been published widely in poetry journals and anthologies. Her full-length poetry collection, River Ghosts (Nightingale & Sparrow Press) was Black Bough Poetry’s December 2022 Book of the Month. Find her at Bluesky: @merrildsmith.bsky.social; Instagram: mdsmithnj Blog: merrildsmith.org