La Estrella

When Polaris falls, my grandmother

will mourn in the center of the earth, her grief

a giant telescope

expanding

through mantle, lithosphere, crust—

a grito.

In her hand, a mirror of polished obsidian—

lava’s reaction to water. In her hand, reflections:

a plumed serpent,

a jaw,

a rosary,

a spirit of thistle,

silver raspberries & beryllium,

frozen rain.

When it was her husband, it was the Ouija board,

her daughters circling

the imperial eye.

When it was the hurricane, it was the attic

of her house,

her canary Pepito, the bird

she kept in its cage even after it died.

She will keep the star too,

when it dies,

grind it into powder

she’ll put in the throat

of her pistol,

cough into the sky.