Your Daily Conspiracy
Hermit Crab Poetry
By Ben Kline and Frances Klein
Aries, the waning gibbous moves into your scapula
arthritis today, and no amount of ramming the wall
at your CrossFit gym will reason with the time it takes
to find the underside of Earth, the edge you can see
leading you to the smoke hiding what you can’t.
So take the leap. Embrace the stranger things.
Taurus, constantly refreshing the screen won’t reveal
what’s not there. Focus on Jupiter rising above
the earth in front of you. Your special someone
is maybe sick of hearing about the supposedly
starless sky behind Apollo 11, about the silence
of the sound stage after the crew of actors left.
Never mind the forecast, Gemini. The itch
on your forehead is just your third eye searching
for that secret cabal of culture and influence,
but the only stormy meeting is the one happening
in your head between your split sides.
As Sirius rises through your view of Orion, dear
Cancer, you can’t help but remember the sea
of beings swimming through your veins--don’t forget
to call your mother and your doctor to make sure
your shots are up to date and the chip still beeps
if you try to dodge the metal detector.
Roar at the sunny skies, Leo, as Mercury pursues
your setting sun into this month’s conclusion.
Beware your cravings going rodent if you think
too long about lizards warming in the pink
flares of sunset on your porch!
Virgo, always on the precipice, a fall
to earth pulled by suspicion and autumn’s
tumble, keep searching for the knoll
where the grass cracks with your doubts
about long gunman and Pentagon plants,
about death’s intention explained as because.
Take this week slow and steady, Libra.
Air out your desire for probing connection,
for love from others must balance your scales
with love you give yourself. No extraterrestrials
will appear to gift you a ready-made monument
to affection, so prepare to do the work!
Your worst impulses will be tempted, Scorpio,
when a work rival threatens to uncover a secret
involving unapproved overtime and a box
of staplers. The choice will be yours: choose fear,
and see your career sink to Atlantis depths,
or be bold and build yourself an island of possibility.
Sagittarius, you’re at the heartbreak hotel all month
after that breakup, but stay with us! With Venus
coming to the fore, ready to burn off the past,
you’re sure to stumble across the Priscilla
to your (still living) Elvis. So shake off
those blues and mix up a Cuba Libre!
You’ve been racking up wins in the boardroom, Capricorn,
but neglecting relationships at home leaves those wins
feeling as hollow as the true center of the earth
when you find yourself celebrating alone. Reach out to
a friend today, make the effort to fill that space.
A social butterfly like you, Aquarius, can’t comprehend
a life hidden away among the forests. You love to be
front and center in photos, not a blurry shape behind
the trees. But this month, Mercury’s movements will push
you to seek solitude, to take in the strange air of time alone.
The vibes are fishy, Pisces, when cell towers rise
like gaslights around your neighborhood, rippling
your way easy through the waves both micro and
macro, life upstream as a metaphor about the calls
coming from inside the house.
Ben Kline (he/him) lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. A poet, storyteller and Madonna podcaster, Ben is the author of the chapbooks Sagittarius A* and Dead Uncles, as well as the forthcoming full-length collections It Was Never Supposed to Be (Variant Literature) and Twang (ELJ Editions.) His work has appeared in Poet Lore, Copper Nickel, Pithead Chapel, MAYDAY, Florida Review, Southeast Review, DIAGRAM, Poetry, and other publications.
Frances Klein (she/her) is an Alaskan poet and teacher. She is the 2022 winner of the Robert Golden Poetry Prize. Klein is the author of several poetry chapbooks, including “(Text) Messages from The Angel Gabriel” (Gnashing Teeth Press, 2024). Her full length collection Another Life is forthcoming in 2025. Klein’s writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Best Microfictions, The Harvard Advocate, The Atticus Review, HAD, and others.
