Dead Stars

“Dead Stars” experiments with form and meter throughout. Stanzas range from single lines to quintains and follow no strict rhyme scheme or syllabic structure. Spacing and line breaks are also regularly employed to emphasize certain words and phrases: For example, the fifth stanza indents the second and third lines. Although the sentence begins on Line 15, it doesn’t end till Line 17, drawing more emphasis to the list of forgotten constellations: “And it’s true. We keep forgetting about Antlia, / Centaurus, / Draco, Lacerta, Hydra, Lyra, Lynx” (Lines 15-17). The line breaks force the reader to longer dwell on the names of the constellations, giving their forgotten locations in the sky more dramatic weight. Regularly, the spacing and line breaks encourage the reader to linger where they might otherwise skim, allowing Limón to keep the reader more deeply enmeshed in nature and her thoughts on hope.

For the stanzas in the first half of the poem, Limón composes complete sentences. Sometimes the sentences begin and end on one line, like Line 1, and other times they complete by the end of the stanza, like in the third stanza. Regardless, each stanza is a complete set of thoughts, creating a contemplative and slower pace. In the sixth stanza, however, Limón breaks away from this structure. The remaining stanzas are often written as incomplete thoughts, not concluding until the next stanza, creating a more chaotic rhythm, which adds to the urgency of the poem’s final message. Whereas the beginning of the poem used only periods, the second half uses question marks to propose questions to the reader, like in the eleventh stanza: “Stood for the many mute mouths of the sea, of the / land?” (Lines 33-34) Questions bring the reader into an even more active relationship with Limón’s ideas. With “Dead Stars,” Limón considers the future. She doesn’t have the answers, but she has ideas, and placing questions within her poem asks the reader to ask those questions about the future, too.