A short list of stars that died this year

this sadness has always been a slow &
steady burn / an endless echo of home.

i, like the stars, know what it means
to be devoured from the inside out.

i know what it means to be on fire &
not emit any light. here i am / trying to
be less volatile, less violent. i’m saying that

when i finally implode, it will cauterise
the sky. tell me again / but gentler this time.

tell me i’m not pulling myself apart for
nothing. this widow is a mirror is a door.

i’m screaming every requiem i know at the
suns & someone is singing a mourning song.

i tried to metaphor the sound of aching;
to say what i meant without saying it. but
my name is a secret that i’m tired of keeping.

By Eliel Vera

Biography:

Eliel “Eli” Vera is a writer/poet/hopeful historian who has contributed to several collaborative works and has been formally recognised for creative and critical analyses of art. Originally from coastal Nigeria, but currently living in coastal England, he has an obsession with cookie dough ice cream and travelling the world. He, and his other works, can be found at myth-boy.tumblr.com