Patrick Ramsay
Patrick Ramsay is a queer Utah-based poet who was raised in and along the wetlands of the shrinking Great Salt Lake. He earned his B.A. in English & creative writing at Weber State University, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of Metaphor Literary Journal. He owns Happy Magpie Book & Quill, a pay-what-you-can bookshop in Ogden, Utah, where he hosts literary arts events. His poems focus on the confluence of land, queerness, and community in the West. His work has appeared in Gwarlingo, NPR, 15Bytes Utah Arts Magazine, Hyacinth Magazine, Halophyte Magazine, LQ Magazine, QSaltLake, and more. You can find more of his work in his chapbook, “Butterflies are Rare in Beehives,” at patrickramsaypoet.com, or on Instagram @writepatrick.
Portrait as Sagittarius A*
It is true that when I see the floating spark
of a satellite in orbit, I still think of the whirling spirals
of the astronomer’s beard. How it would swallow
my whole hand when I held his cheek. Can still feel
backpacking Yellowstone in my shoulder blades.
The crisp skinnydip sunset in Hellroaring Creek.
Him stargazing in grizzly country, alone
outside our nylon tent, quietly narrating meteors.
The constellations of our bodies overlapping
after every nightfall. As we drove through the Tetons,
I taught him to fish while he taught me star clusters
with binoculars. He assured me through campfire smoke
that we know almost nothing about the black holes
except that they resemble burning irises
and an open mouth with soft lips.
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