A/N: Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, d1 - poetry collection centred around a character or group of characters
Ptolemy in the Sky
1.
Even the dead can't forget about tomorrow.
They slumber in those small shadows where the light can't reach and they hope and they dream and they push their hope out like little particles of dust and eventually those bits of dust catch alight and they're fireflies instead, fireflies dancing on the face of the sun they call a war.
The ship is always gliding into war because that is why they built it, why it flies, why they gave it wings and why they now slumber in its confides. The ship is always gliding into war and they've painted its hull and stern and bow with blood and plugged its little corners with shadows that cry when they grow and smile when their thoughts go out into the world, aglow.
They're dead long ago but their shadows still exist in the corners no-one remembers to polish and no-one's small enough to walk except the dead which lose their shape and form but still possess their thoughts
And they're dead long ago but they have their hopes and dreams and wishes and when the light shines they can speak them all out to the world
And the light shines
in the tomorrow they look for,
in the tomorrow they can't ignore
and can't forget.