the storms of venus

poems by g.j.umaski

the birth of a thousand stars

i breathe in universes. the expanding and contracting of time. now you see it, now you don't. when i blink stars are born. when i sigh a mountain rises.

birds fly and drop out of the sky unsuspecting of the things on the ground that watch in envy.

now you see them. now you don’t.

Enemies

by the time i was in primary school they had already begun growing my enemies in kindergarten.

they led them into crowds by their fingers handed them automatic weapons and told them to fire.