This week, Deep Water visits space, through the heart of one of its travelers. I love how John Reinhart’s fleetingly brief poem suspends us midair through the enjambed lines and single sentence of “the cosmonaut’s heart.” After I’ve read through to the final line – which ends free of punctuation – I feel like I, too, have launched into a vastness.

Reinhart is a poet and father of three. A recipient of the Horror Writers Association Dark Poetry Scholarship, he has been a Pushcart, Rhysling and Dwarf Stars award nominee. To date, he has penned seven poetry collections, most recently “Arson” (NightBallet Press, 2018).

the cosmonaut’s heart

By John Reinhart

unconstrained
by earth’s grave
matters, free from the atmosphere
stifling creative love – no stigma
to loneliness, the cosmonaut’s heart
embraces what on earth
we only imagine
though our calculations
assume it

Megan Grumbling is a poet and writer who lives in Portland. DEEP WATER: Maine Poems is produced in collaboration with the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. “the cosmonaut’s heart” copyright © 2017 by John Reinhart, reprinted from Grievous Angel. It appears by permission of the author.