Some solar systems wave warm greetings
with the long light-beam arms of pulsars.
Some send pen pals rambling letters
carved lovingly on arcing comets.
Others launch arguments through meteors,
leaving insult craters pitted across rivals’ planets.
But all eagerly wait for these messages
to traverse the light years between them,
occasional reminders in a sparse galaxy
that their starry hearts are not alone.
by Ian Li
Ian Li (he/him) is a Chinese-Canadian economist, developer, writer, and poet. He also enjoys spreadsheets, statistical curiosities, and brain teasers. Find his work published or forthcoming in Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, and the Toronto subway system, among other venues. He is also a poetry editor at Orion’s Belt. Learn more at https://ian-li.com.
Photo by Vincentiu Solomon on Unsplash
Carolyn Clink, David Clink, and Herb Kauderer, Amazing Stories’ poetry editors, are proud to present this month’s poem.
