we’re looking at the sky
picking out a star
and we see a glimpse
of hope
that vanishes the second
we blink it away —

what’s left is the sky
black and dusty
but mostly black
filled with nothing
but the past
we won’t see —

folding back to back
skin to skin
the mirror folds around us
wth its backside
we are the dark side
of humanity.

        © Dominik Alexander / 2024
        © Nika Akin (image)