Hypnotized by the Void
Once this large craft,
Well-maintained and fully staffed,
Had been full of laughter
And talks of exciting discoveries
Had filled every room.
Looking out the windows
Of the cupola – even just a brief
glance – you could feel the sharp
Realization of how small you were
In comparison to vast universe
Surrounding you.
Days turned to weeks, and weeks
Turned to months, soon
The laughter faded, despite
The stars shining outside,
Dotting the black void
All around the shuttle.
People had taken to going
Out on space walks,
Hoping to be close to the beauty
They had glimpsed through the glass,
Giving in to the pull – the terrifying
void luring them away – venturing
Out on their own.
Experiment results were left unrecorded
As more and more days passed him by,
He had spent every moment in the cupola,
Until one day, too deep into their exploration,
He looked up, and realized
– in the alarming silence –
He was the only one left aboard.
Brianna Malotke is a freelance costume designer and writer. She's a member of the Horror Writers Association and some of her most recent work can be found online at The Yard: Crime Blog,The Crypt, and Witch House Amateur Magazine. She has poems in the anthologies Beneath, Cosmos, The Deep, and Beautiful Tragedies 2. Later this year she will have a flash fiction and a short story published as well with several other horror poems. Looking ahead to 2022, she has two body horror poems in the upcoming Women in Horror Poetry Showcase, “Under Her Skin,” published by Black Spot Books.