The dusty Century
dictionary is humped open
between oblique
and oblivion

in the reading area
that no one
uses—asking silently
about seconds and longevity,

a void. Leather-
cushioned Stickleys sit all day
in this observatory. Science
works on its specific

energies, churning how the universe
unspooled. I’m told Earth
will be eaten up.
I watch the shaggy

clouds. Insistent carpet.
When the lens opens, the distance
conducts its enormity, its wonder
of whatever was. And ever since.

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Lauren Camp currently serves as New Mexico Poet Laureate. She is the author of seven books, most recently An Eye in Each Square (River River Books, 2023) and Worn Smooth between Devourings (NYQ Books, 2023). Camp is a 2023 Academy of American Poets Laureate fellow, recipient of a Dorset Prize, and finalist for the Arab American Book Award, Housatonic Book Award, and Adrienne Rich Award. Her poems have been translated into Mandarin, Turkish, Spanish, French, and Arabic, and have appeared in New England Review, Poem-a-Day and Kenyon Review. www.laurencamp.com.

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