Transmissions

by Ian Li

Past cloudy nebulae, 
signals degrade, 
hologram calls with family 
stutter,                        then drop. 

You switch to video call, 
coax errant relay satellites 
to rebroadcast. 

But your ship hurtles further, 
where a bitter black hole 
warps tearful conversation 
         into smears of static. 

Dig through musty closets, 
find museum-bound tech equipment 
brought onboard as a joke. 

Hook up a telegraph, send your laments 
in bursts          of Morse code, 
hope someone will decode your feelings 
through the layers of space dust. 

Cling to your eroding connection 
         to home, 
believe that messages in a vacuum 
                        are timeless. 

Ian Li (he/him) is a new Chinese-Canadian writer of speculative fiction and poetry, who started writing less than a year ago after a lifetime of believing he could never be creative. He also loves economics, game development, spreadsheets, and brain teasers. His work is published/forthcoming in Abyss & Apex, Solarpunk Magazine, and Worlds of Possibility, among other venues. Learn more at https://ian-li.com.