The Space Between Us by Tess Gori

I gaze up at the stars that lie above our faces,
and I know that you are too,
I know that we are staring at the same constellations,
yet seeing different pictures,
mine paints us.

And here I sit, punishing the stars for what you did. 
The image I once loved so deeply, 
I once spent hours admiring, 

now a terrifying mass of hopeless abyss,
doomed by our cosmic fate. 

I was once a bright-eyed kid,
bearing my astronaut helmet,
clutching eagerly to my launchpad,
prepared for our pursuit to the great unknown. 

I didn't know about your asteroid. 

I wonder if the aspiring astronauts know that it's not all stars and planets, there's debris and comets that will come crashing into you,
without regard to how you feel,  
black holes that will vacuum you into a spiral of chaos.

I wonder if they know they will suffocate.

I wonder if they know there's no air.