Our Roof Is the Nose of a Rocket
Our entire building hums,
as a beetle does before it takes to the air.
We break bread and give thanks and make things
with such frequency and repetition
that our awareness of time passing
is telescoping inward.
We’ll demand innocence,
but we know the hum,
this static-white-noise
in the field of our mind
is to remind us that
the ratio of life lived
to life left to live
has shifted
the first of many times.
Climb six flights of pre-war stairs
open the hatch to the roof so we
can drink green wine from flea market crystal.
It takes so little work to unhinge
there is little doubt that we are living doors.
We can calculate how concrete makes
geometric shapes between cities.
There is a cold front,
and coats are thin so we
cast a gaze across the skyline,
a play’s curtain.
Audacious, we cut holes
through and peek at the actors.
From the roof of that building
with it’s wild hum
like buzzing wings
we dopplar out
convinced that, tomorrow
we will lift avenues
and blocks and all
with only our will.
Christa Pagliei is a writer and media producer from Wyckoff, NJ living in Brooklyn, New York. A published poet and fiction writer, she co-created the podcast Lost Signal Society- a series horror/fantasy/sci-fi plays. Additionally, she’s a Film and TV professional working on shows like Succession, Sneaky Pete, Mr.Robot and many more.