MINI-MOON¹
Cynthia Arrieu-King
Water Protection
Mandi Magnuson-Hung
The woman who tries to leave me alone and adrift in conversation physically turns away from the table when I arrive. I wave but she’s not looking. An algorithm sometimes reveals a lot of introvert memes. I used to throw flat rocks at water. Lake Erie, or the creek in Indiana. Your index finger has to connect with the thin sides, not the flat broad side. The sound of the stones hitting the water and never sinking. What’s that sound, a tongue halfway out in a cute admonishment. Skipping and never sinking. The mini moon sweeping horseshoe wise, two months as a song in our atmosphere. I think my longest skip was five splashes before the rock sank, and I was trying to beat someone else's record. The creek bank never ran out of rocks to throw, but I couldn’t beat its numbers. The river glazed with blue sky, the thing it could never shake. The person who skipped the rock seven times—so long ago, I can’t remember who it was. Are we sure the mini-moon is not affecting our minds? Outside, the sun still hangs in the air. People walk in different directions, each holding a cup of coffee.
¹ 2024 PT5 is an asteroid from the Arjuna asteroid belt that entered Earth’s orbit on September 29, 2024 and stayed until November 25, 2024.
Cynthia Arrieu-King is professor of creative writing at Stockton University. Her books include People are Tiny in Paintings of China (Octopus Books 2010), Manifest, winner of the Gatewood Prize as selected by Harryette Mullen (Switchback 2013), Futureless Languages (Radiator Press 2018) and its sister volume Continuity (Octopus Books 2021). She is working on a volume of short stories and a speculative novel about caregiving in the post-industrial future.
Mandi Magnuson-Hung began making hand-cut collages in 2020, as a way to calm her mind during a turbulent time. She never stopped., Her collages have been described as "kind of weird," "beautiful," and "dubious," which is accurate, as they originate from her brain, which is all these things. Her background is in music and history, so you may see that imagery peeking out at you. If she’s not in the studio she’s probably at a museum, a park, or covered in cats.