Katie Richards

AURORA BOREALIS

The tumble of heaven towards earth
sky’s leaning in a coruscation 

feel this, Earth, feel this the touch
the swirl of purple the shed of paint

from brush’s edge to water’s body 
the world is unraveling unraveling constant

above me a loose thread caught
stretched taut then sprung to coil

Katie Richards is an MFA candidate at George Mason University. She is the recipient of the 2016 Mark Craver Poetry Award and the 2020 Mary Roberts Rinehart Poetry Award. Her poetry has previously appeared or is forthcoming in the South Dakota Review, DIALOGIST, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and Cider Press Review, among other places.