Reasons I don't write about the moon

There are people dying, but no really.

Chickenboxes and capitalism

got niggas strung out 7 am

on penn & north

and west mulberry

and north paca & lexington

Because the sun has stolen too much joy

Because nothing is stable at home

Can’t keep up with anyone – let alone the Joneses

with no paycheck

Because what’s special about the moon anyway?

We got beauty here, somewhere, on earth

& we don’t appreciate it enough, hold it up as privilege

or something to be expected

when food wasn’t always a right outside of table scraps.

___

ASHLEY ELIZABETH (she/her) is a Pushcart-nominated writer and teacher whose work has appeared in SWWIM, Voicemail Poems, Rigorous, and Sage Cigarettes, among others. Ashley's debut full-length collection, A Family Thing, is forthcoming from Redacted Books/ELJ Editions. She is also the author of the chapbooks black has every right to be angry (2023) and you were supposed to be a friend (2020). Ashley lives in Baltimore, MD with her partner and their cats.