"I CHALLENGE THE SUN"

I challenge the sun almost every day / and fail / but do you have any idea what it takes / to repeat the same mistakes / to pull your body off the ground / and stare / open / hollow but still so full of hope / One day the sun will tremble / on a day like any other / only miraculous / light will be warm again / those pins that hold my chest taut will slip out / ribs unspooling into threads of whispering bone / that will never be ash / I will turn my bleached face to a sky / tender as the purring back of a black cat / a cocoon of quiet closed eyelids / quest complete / The sun will turn off in a spark of inconsequential static / a beautiful day / Everyone will forget / the great unfurling fire / the teeth / memories of pink sunsets will paint over the darkened horizon / in hues of romance and nostalgia / Why would anyone want to challenge the sun / I stand back up / to change inevitability / sometimes I forget that I still need to win



Clara Whitford is a Dublin-based poet, novelist, screenwriter, and illustrator. Her work has appeared in Moonlit Path Journal, Harbor Lantern Review, and The Silver Quill. She loves unraveling the psychology of morally ambiguous fictional heroes, wandering along coastal cliffs to forgotten ruins, and exploring towns where the streets feel like they’re telling their own stories. More of her work can be found at clarawhitfordwrites.com.