“small acts of rebellion”

by Hilary Otto

to let a train pass without boarding
to stand still on an emptying platform
to allow the rush to flow around you
to amble towards the jammed exit
and pass the barriers humming
to saunter out into the street
to tear your eyes from the light
in your palm and raise them briefly
past the walls looming on all sides
to find the small gap of blue above you
stretching right up to the edge
of the earth’s atmosphere
where the particles escape

Hilary Otto is an English poet based in Barcelona, where she reads regularly in both Spanish and English. Her work has featured in Ink, Sweat and Tears, Popshot, As It Ought To Be, and The Blue Nib, among other publications. She was longlisted for the Live Canon 2021 International Poetry Prize, and her first pamphlet is forthcoming from Hedgehog Press in 2022. She tweets at @hilaryotto.