aurora australis

what is it like to be so beautiful and forgotten —

swept into the underbelly of something greater-than?

like cassandra, knowing shame and forever distrusted,

you sit beneath the high gods of the universe, rusted

and jaded, yes, but their faces will forever shine.

see, beauty is coddled in people’s minds.

so long as they praise these false gods, they immortalize

themselves in art with halos and fat golden rings, and they demonize

you with your gaudy colors and powerful turns.

what is it like to be lesser than?

because as long as you are australis, you will never

be seen by them. see, that’s the way the world turns, forever

rotating around the North, forgetting those beneath them.