The Dark Between The Stars

The Dark Between the Stars

It's always night in space,
the distance between the stars
devoid of warm light,

the scattered stars beacons
of possibility, islands of gravity
tugging at the imagination.

It's midnight aboard
this starship between here to there,
the traditional witching hour,

Earth fears and superstitions
packed along with our other baggage;
one-way tickets punched.

Darkness resides within
the hearts of the android crew, and
the dreams of the cold-sleepers;

the claustrophobia of the ship,
its locked hatches, the constriction
of one's own skin sitting heavy.

The color of time changes
by degrees, like a fading ember,
finally turning coal black

as the end draws near;
numb fingers in cold-sleep coffins
clawing towards the light.

--G. O. Clark

previouly published in Star*Line, Vol. 39:4, 2016.