GABRIEL, SHIVERING IN SPACE

there is a theory that what we know as angels
are in fact black holes.

when the bible spoke of them as the wheels
of chariots, what it meant to say was that angels

also know the motion of eternity, the constant rolling
of time, how it bends both forwards and backwards

in a long                        bright                                   line.

if you were to come out of the other end of a black hole,
you would see the history of the universe

scrapbooked right before you. you could pivot
and see the end of the world over your shoulder,

winking like it knows your name.

angels are said to know everything but the end of times.
this means they haven’t come through to the other side

of themselves, looked over a shoulder,
and taken it all in. maybe they are scared, too,

scared at how their own holiness is a hungry prism
in the dead of space, spinning forever, swallowing light.

it is in this way that i know we are the same.

By Harper Russet

Biography:

Harper Russet (she/her or they/them pronouns, interchangeable) is a 24-year-old butch lesbian poet and novelist from Utah. Every poem she writes is an argument with gender, the country, and so many gods. Videos of her work can be found on Write About Now. You can also find Harper on Twitter and Patreon.