In the warm water of the belly, a living being is formed in the perception of darkness. The perception of darkness suggests there is no life, no space, no nothing. True darkness is the total absence of light and sound entirely, that of which is equivalent to death. A body of possibilities bounce within the perception of darkness; one being that the hollowing is not in fact empty. Perhaps, while invisible and unannounced, there is life everywhere and we are full of several things at once all waiting in the queue of emergence. + Last January my astrologer, fellow poet, T.C. Gardstein told me over Zoom I was in a gestation period. While I was not literally with child (super celibate for months) what I was pregnant with had just started production. It would not take recognizable shape until later this year. August, she said, it would begin to crown. + August 15, 2025 Inside the rough unassuming mussel she shucks open a tiny sliver With her bar...