Salt Sky

By Alberto Ríos

The bright night sky,

Doorway to everything—

In all that black

All those stars:

Salt.

Pinpricks.

White fireworks.

Perlite.

We look up

Pulled into the immensity,

Lifted into the limitless—

As if it were a hole

We are falling into,

Up instead of down.

We stand on the earth,

Breathe in the night.

It is all too big.

We go back inside.

Source: Poetry (January/February 2026)