by Jim Daniels

Stiff sea wind clears sky.
Stars sink through cloud’s absence.

On a dark empty beach, our bodies
twist in sweet dark tangle rooted in tides.

Let’s erase constellations.
Or lose that part of us that connects dots.

We do not make wishes on stars—
though one or two may be falling

even now.

Jim (Ray) Daniels’ sixth book of fiction, The Perp Walk, was published by Michigan State University Press in 2019, along with his coedited anthology, RESPECT: The Poetry of Detroit Music. During his long career, he has warmed up for Lucinda Williams at the Three Rivers Arts Festival, read on Prairie Home Companion, had his poem “Factory Love” displayed on a racecar, and sent poetry to the moon with the Moon Arts Project.