Atlas
moon of Saturn first discovered in 1980 by Voyager I
Ice crystals slip between Saturn’s named rings:
B Cassini Division
A Roche Division
our light’s shepherded into the center,
but fails to penetrate
or be torn apart.
Outer edges smooth over time.
You endure, holding up sky:
my pieces
float down
around me (never on or in me),
thank you for that
act of supreme kindness.
But we will not condense into a moon.
Although she claims Memphis as home, Janet Dale lives in Georgia where she teaches first year writing at Georgia Southern University and is a count volunteer for VIDA: Women in the Literary Arts. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize (2021), her work has appeared in The Boiler, Hobart, Zone 3, and others.
