The Binaries: X-Ray by Carey Salerno
As in sometimes what’s created is a disputable pulsing while at others the acts are demonstrably thermonuclear
⟡ Vote for ONLY POEMS in the 2025 Best Lit Mags Awards ⟡
The Binaries: X-Ray
Whether from the star’s act of playing the counterpart or it being assumed counterpart to various acts of being, we consider the significance of —what’s dispatched between the binaries, their unwilful compromise, their foreverness of tit for tat—an abundance of lithe matter precipitating from the raw mouth of the collapsed into the reluctant mouth of the normal, producing that which calls for further analysis, an expert to push silver printed films onto the wall-mounted lightbox and interpret the exact intention, each connotation, the accretion disk of edematous desire. As in there is a funnel point through which hydrogen and helium are persistently messengered. As in there must be a mediator present to elucidate the potential for innumerable misinterpretations, a material intervening, to record the right and wrong of the exchange in the little book that stays in the junk drawer of the kitchen. As in sometimes what’s created is a disputable pulsing while at others the acts are demonstrably thermonuclear. As in keep your voice down so the neighbors won’t hear. As in please stop leaving every goddamn light on in this house. As in the lusters of the stars blip and need time to recover, if they can recover, on their own. As in don’t say another word to them right now.
The Hungriest Stars (Persea Books, 2025)
This reflection humanises duality as intimacy, showing binaries not as cold mechanics but as fragile exchanges of being.
It humanises collapse as vulnerability, matter spilling from one mouth to another like a reluctant confession.
The accretion disk humanises desire, swelling with restless energy that resists containment yet longs for interpretation.
Hydrogen and helium humanise persistence, carried endlessly across a convergence that mirrors human endurance and repetition.
The kitchen drawer humanises memory, grounding cosmic forces in the tenderness of everyday domestic life.
The questionable pulse humanises uncertainty, reminding us that creation often trembles before it burns.
The thermonuclear act humanises intensity, revealing moments when existence ignites with undeniable force.
The whispered plea humanises fragility, echoing the need for silence and care in shared spaces.
The brightness of stars humanises recovery, reminding us that even radiance requires time to heal.
Ultimately, the piece humanises binaries as paradox: fragile pulses and explosive acts woven into one continuum of life.