Corresponding with Stars

Kelli Russell Agodon

(USA)

I spoke with the solar system about the study-abroad

     program for women who hear the world 

     in minor notes. I have an unbreakable attention span

 

and a longing for minor planets, like the friend 

     who made cauliflower soup and poured you

     red wine in a paper cup when you were crying

 

after someone texted you a blurry photo

     of the moon. And while you ran out of the cabin

     to see it, all you saw were the small antlers

 

of a deer you named Closest Satellite. It’s hard

     to understand why we’re on this planet sometimes—

     this is why I’m requesting information from the stars

 

on an intergalactic possibility. I told them

     how eager I would be to receive a B+

     in astronomy, how I haven’t been sleeping well,

 

though am thankful for my electric blanket and lovers 

     who scratch my back and rub the inner part 

     of my wrist, a cosmos of tiny faint scars.

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Kelli Russell Agodon

is a

Guest Contributor for Panorama.

Kelli Russell Agodon is a bi/queer poet, writer, and editor from the Pacific Northwest whose next book, Accidental Devotions, will be published by Copper Canyon Press in 2026. Her newest collection, Dialogues with Rising Tides (Copper Canyon Press), was a Finalist in the Washington State Book Awards and shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize in Poetry. She is also the author of Demystifying the Manuscript: Essays and Interviews on Creating a Book of Poems, coedited with Susan Rich, and The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts for Your Writing Practice, coauthored with Martha Silano. Kelli is the cofounder of Two Sylvias Press and she teaches at Pacific Lutheran University’s low-res MFA program, the Rainier Writing Workshop. She is also the cohost of the poetry series "Poems You Need" with Melissa Studdard. www.agodon.com / www.twosylviaspress.com / www.youtube.com/@PoemsYouNeed

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