Srilikhi Nekkanti<\/em><\/h4>\n <\/p>\n
yet it doesn\u2019t have to be. For all we know, this<\/p>\n
was the first thought I had but the last to be written.<\/p>\n
Because it never really does flow the way we want it to<\/p>\n
first becomes last as easily as tomorrow becomes yesterday<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My friend in the neighboring galaxy will not see me<\/p>\n
for another 2.54 million years. I will wave my hellos and goodbyes now<\/p>\n
so that the light can carry it to them safely on its back<\/p>\n
They will send me a laugh in return<\/p>\n
and in its lilting joy a promise that everything will be okay<\/p>\n
as it always is in the end.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For them, I am a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a second<\/p>\n
I will slide past with such deft stealth<\/p>\n
that they will wonder if I were ever there<\/p>\n
to begin with, to begin with<\/p>\n
a solid kiss to the ground for letting me use it<\/p>\n
and a remorseful sorry to the sky for being too far away to hold<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Apparently, it is all about relativity<\/p>\n
Relative to my friend in Andromeda<\/p>\n
Relative to my mother, to me, to you<\/p>\n
to the textbook that has to repeat its pages in<\/p>\n
every few decades with a change<\/p>\n
in the names or the places or the names and the places<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When-I-am-on-my-phone-I-scroll-so-fast-that-it<\/p>\n
all<\/p>\n
slows<\/p>\n
down<\/p>\n
around<\/p>\n
me<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I am ensnared by the screen for a mere moment<\/p>\n
but my mother says a month has slipped away<\/p>\n
My month had not passed in the way hers has<\/p>\n
Hers crept on in, in the aches of a twelve-hour shift<\/p>\n
of a six-day work week<\/p>\n
Mine left me before I could even greet it<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It is about relativity, apparently, so<\/p>\n
this can be the final line I\u2019ll write for you and<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\n
Srilikhi Nekkanti\u00a0<\/strong>is majoring in Psychology and planning to graduate in 2022. She’s always enjoyed reading poems and was grateful for the chance to write this piece for her Creative Writing Honors class in Fall 2020. Her instructor, Paul Blaney, selected the piece for inclusion in\u00a0WHR.\u00a0<\/em> She hopes you enjoy reading the poem as much as she did writing it!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srilikhi Nekkanti yet it doesn\u2019t have to be. For all we know, this was the first thought I had but the last to be written. 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