Sky for Miles

Sky for Miles

Paul J. Pastor

The Fish of Heaven swam to me
and flipped his tail. Raw-boned,
fleshed with contentment, scaled with
notes from God’s own whistling
in the shower. And the Fish said,
why the long jaw? and I was like
“you must’ve just got here.”

He hung
lazy in the current of the breeze until
I added, “Look around. I am in love but
my heart is not laughing. I sleep in
little dribbles. Nothing tastes the same.
The stars used to bloom like tulips. I thought
once I could grow to multitudes. I have
bad breath. I am either a happy ape
or a sad angel. Things die. I may be
losing my marbles. My tooth broke.
Then I swallowed it. I can’t keep
the counters clean. There are men
with rifles everywhere. The fence posts
are rotten. I think every week how glad
I am my grandfather doesn’t have to see this.”

If that is all, he said,
then when
do you think you’ll get around
to catching me?

---

Paul J. Pastor
Poet & Editor

Paul is a poet, author, and editor (with Penguin Random House). His debut poetry collection, Bower Lodge, is slated for a December 2021 release from Fernwood Press, joining his nonfiction works on spirituality, The Face of the Deep and The Listening Day. His poetry has appeared in various outlets and has been anthologized by New York Quarterly.

Photography by Elizabeth Lies