Gene Groves
Black Hole

          Black holes ain’t as black as they are painted—Professor Stephen Hawking

On a catwalk you would shine,
have the glow of good health
light reflecting foundation, smoky eyes,
barely black mascara,
not iridescent, not in the glare of cameras.

A long walk for you
with your family history of collapse,
yet you’d shimmer,
elegant in the new black,
Hawking radiation.

With each step you’d shed
a tinge of colour from your skin
till you evaporate into interstellar dark.