2 poems
by Ashley Obscura
Ashley Obscura is a Canadian-Mexican writer, publisher and editor. She is the author of the poetry collections Ambient Technology (2018) and I Am Here (2014) and many digital poetry projects, including Museum of Symmetry (National Film Board of Canada). In 2019 Cosmica Cosita, a Spanish translation of Ambient Technology, will be published by Caleta Olivia in Argentina. Obscura has been anthologized as one of Canada’s 30 Under 30 poets (With/Words Press, 2017) and her poetry has been anthologized in the United States and been translated and published in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Peru and Romania. The founder and managing editor of Metatron Press, Obscura currently lives in Montreal, Quebec.
Solar Atmosphere
When people ask me how I ‘did it’ I reply
“I am” a lunar atmosphere?...
I’ve always loved the sun,
but I am nocturnal.
In Libra season everything became
extraordinary. We were exhausted and
enchanted. Tired of playing the role of Eternal
Muse. Heavenly-Diabolical Sorceress.
There were ways in which desire was
staged. Sexuality performed. Power
abused, it was no surprise.
But somewhere between the sensual
and grotesque, we were romantic and
hopeful. We moved into the “palace
of the real” where we felt opulent
in our soft flesh. Raw and cut open like
filet. Folding over each others lips. Brown
lipstick, purple mascara, blue glitter. We felt seen.
Were we heard? Resonating in the corridor
of the solar atmosphere.
From Ambient Technology
I want to build a world
Where we can love freely
Without fear of what we may lose
My heart hurts today because it hurts
People who love us may hurt us
But don’t you want to grow and try again
Don’t you
Don’t you want to build a new world
I want you to
One gesture at a time
Build us a safer world
Even if love is a battlefield
Even if we’re not yet
The people we have dreamed