Sijo for Space Girls
art by Johan Cristian Dahl courtesy of the MET Museum
by Bryane Alfonso
Christina Koch as Horsehead Nebula
We followed the shaky lines in the sky, dark and white, watching
as the stars hid you and told you their secrets. When you returned,
we asked for the words, but we were too foal-like to follow the sounds.
———
Mae Jemison as Flame Nebula
Like flame, like bone, you reached out to ephemeral light to find
the other side. We pretended you didn’t belong, and still
you held on, even during the blue shifts in the dark.
———
Sally Ride as Dragon’s Egg Nebula
In the year of the black dragon, you wanted to be something new.
Inside the dragon’s egg, two mismatched stars curled towards each other,
close enough to kiss, to be drawn towards each other in silent song.
———
Laika as Hand of God Nebula
Years after you turned to starshine, I felt the press of your ribs
against mine, echoing guilt. I wondered if you were lonely,
or if the hand of the cosmos found you, kissed your snout shades of blue.
Bryane Alfonso is a lesbian, Cuban writer and a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing at Florida International University. Their poetry and prose can be found in Olit Magazine, The Palisades Review, and Matchbook Literary Magazine. In their free time, they're usually teaching the fundamentals of academic and creative writing to a bunch of bored college kids. You can find them on IG @bry.jpg.
