{"id":50847,"date":"2024-03-25T13:54:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T17:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/?p=50847"},"modified":"2024-06-14T14:06:02","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T18:06:02","slug":"lotus-descends-to-visit-nova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/poetry\/lotus-descends-to-visit-nova\/","title":{"rendered":"Lotus descends to visit Nova"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_51036\" style=\"width: 449px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51036\" class=\"wp-image-51036 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KIM_HU_Lotus-Descends-to-Visit-Nova-600px.png?resize=439%2C500\" alt=\"Person sitting on a train surrounded by ghostly people\" width=\"439\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KIM_HU_Lotus-Descends-to-Visit-Nova-600px.png?resize=439%2C500&amp;ssl=1 439w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KIM_HU_Lotus-Descends-to-Visit-Nova-600px.png?w=600&amp;ssl=1 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 439px) 100vw, 439px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-51036\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lotus Descends to Visit Nova, \u00a92024 by Kim Hu<\/p><\/div>\n<script>\nfunction showWarning_enUS() {\n    var content_warning_list = document.getElementById(\"content-warning-enUS\");\n\n    if (content_warning_list.style.display === \"none\") {\n        content_warning_list.style.display = \"block\";\n    } else {\n        content_warning_list.style.display = \"none\";\n    }\n}\n<\/script><div lang=\"en-US\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"content-warning-container-ltr\"><p><strong class=\"content-warning-title\">Content warning:<\/strong><br\/><button onclick=\"showWarning_enUS()\">Show warnings<\/button><\/p><div class=\"content-warning\" id=\"content-warning-enUS\" style=\"display: none;\" ><p>This page contains: <\/p><ul><li>No content warnings<\/li><\/ul><\/div><br\/><\/div>\n<p>quiet and crystal\u2014the Groundline\u2019s roar<br \/>\nis a speed song\u2014the pure, upright ringing<br \/>\nof a silent trajectory too fast<br \/>\nto be soundless\u2014inside,<br \/>\nyou can hear the train\u2019s rush, I swear,<br \/>\nbut not with your ears\u2014here, beneath<br \/>\nNew Phnom Penh Central,<br \/>\nwhere the train and I burrow past<br \/>\nsunless lives, only ghosts see me\u2014<\/p>\n<p>like intermittent polychrome threads,<br \/>\nthe lights of residential cavern districts<br \/>\nstreak the windows in spurts<br \/>\nbetween black stretches\u2014<br \/>\nsubterranean, I can often read\u2014<br \/>\nI can less often write\u2014but I can always<br \/>\nhear myself, finally, because<br \/>\nI\u2019ve returned to the afterlife,<br \/>\nwhere I have the time\u2014<br \/>\nthe silence\u2014<br \/>\nto make it up to God and self\u2014<\/p>\n<p>it\u2019s been so long\u2014I wasn\u2019t ready\u2014<br \/>\nthe last time I leaned down into you, I was<br \/>\nshaking\u2014I took the long train back, our<br \/>\ndistance arithmetic, I was stalling\u2014in the fact\u2014<\/p>\n<p>this particular black stretch seems<br \/>\nfinal\u2014but it\u2019s not\u2014another stop,<br \/>\nghosts embark\u2014again we leave\u2014an offworld visitor<br \/>\npresses her fog to the window\u2014her fair face<br \/>\nhovers over the small nebula of misted glass<br \/>\nbetween her and nothing\u2014<br \/>\nmaybe, she sees new worlds in her<br \/>\nmirrored eyes\u2014<br \/>\nnothing\u2019s in her way<br \/>\nexcept for glass\u2014but she\u2019s waiting<br \/>\nfor something other than arrival\u2014<br \/>\nI wait with her\u2014<\/p>\n<p>given where I\u2019m going, we may not get off together\u2014<br \/>\nwhat\u2019s it like to go somewhere without a cash cause<br \/>\nor a promise to keep\u2014<\/p>\n<p>as we pass another cavern district,<br \/>\nits lights turn from lines<br \/>\nto shapes\u2014the train<br \/>\nis slowing\u2014we enter the last<br \/>\ndarkness before my stop\u2014<br \/>\nI lay my own fog on the window\u2014<\/p>\n<p>I do want you\u2014I elude because I do,<br \/>\nI prefer the route to you, I won\u2019t understand\u2014<\/p>\n<p>in or through the glass,<br \/>\nmy mahogany irises brighten<br \/>\nagainst the darkening exterior\u2014I turn<br \/>\nand see a man in a forest green coat<br \/>\nsitting where the woman sat\u2014she<br \/>\nmust be in the restroom, and I wonder<br \/>\nif she needed a better mirror<br \/>\nfor her pursuits\u2014<\/p>\n<p>the man observes his reflection<br \/>\nwaning as the light of the exit nears\u2014<br \/>\nhis doppelg\u00e4nger turns to me\u2014I hold its gaze<br \/>\nuntil the tunnel\u2019s mouth flashes\u2014<\/p>\n<p>the train emerges from underground<br \/>\ninto Sangkat 57\u2014a 6-kilometer-wide sinkhole,<br \/>\nthe Surface edge visible 4 kilometers up\u2014<br \/>\nthe train ascends a bridge<br \/>\nover endless rows of houses<br \/>\nmade of beams from decommissioned factories,<br \/>\nstripped hulls, salvaged engines\u2014<br \/>\neach house, a rusted mosaic, is bound<br \/>\nto the others by sinewy power cables and<br \/>\nan overgrowth of foliage, vines, invasive flowers\u2014<\/p>\n<p>in the land of the living again\u2014<br \/>\nI step onto the station platform<br \/>\nand watch the other passengers<br \/>\ndo the same\u2014<br \/>\nthe pale visitor and the man in forest green<br \/>\nare nowhere\u2014I look for them,<br \/>\nthough maybe they<br \/>\nwere never stopping here\u2014<\/p>\n<p>at this point in New Phnom Penh\u2019s lunar orbit,<br \/>\nLos Angeles is a monolithic sphere in the sky,<br \/>\nthe geometric bronze of its urban territories visible<br \/>\non the moss green and pale beige planet\u2019s surface\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Nova looks for me\u2014<br \/>\nI hide in the disembarking,<br \/>\nI watch her<br \/>\nfrom four cabins down\u2014<br \/>\nloose chili peppers tee\u2014<br \/>\ncargo shorts\u2014off white old skools\u2014<br \/>\nher hands clasp\u2014she seems<br \/>\nto have been waiting a while\u2014<br \/>\nlucent eyes, rustling black bangs,<br \/>\nshe taps a shoulder, then another,<br \/>\nwading toward the train<br \/>\nthrough the multitudes\u2014<\/p>\n<p>Nova scans the train exits\u2014<br \/>\nI want to call her name\u2014I want<br \/>\nto get that post-train drink we always get\u2014<br \/>\nbut first, I need to see her<br \/>\nthrough trainglass\u2014I step back<br \/>\non the train out of view\u2014I watch her<br \/>\nfrom the inside\u2014<br \/>\njust five more minutes, Conductor\u2014<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>[Editor\u2019s Note: Publication of this poem was made possible by a gift from Paul Rehac during our annual Kickstarter.]<\/em><\/p>\n<br class=\"clear_both\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>the train ascends a bridge over endless rows of houses made of beams from decommissioned factories, stripped hulls, salvaged engines\u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[730],"class_list":["post-50847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-poetry","tag-no-content-warning"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p82q22-de7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50847"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51037,"href":"https:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50847\/revisions\/51037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strangehorizons.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}