With an atmosphere composed of nitrogen and liquid methane, Saturn’s largest moon holds a stalled promise of life. Below its dunes and frigid darklands, submerged beneath a frozen crust, pools of water and ammonia — the harbor, the parent. (Six billion years it must wait before the sun expands to heat its surface.) The half-written letter, the suspended kiss drift in its ether: unknown child, formless body, let me prove my devotion.
“THERE’S NO THROUGH TRAIL” —HAN-SHAN, TRANSLATED BY GARY SNYDER
About Laton Carter
Laton Carter’s writing appears in Atticus Review, The Hoosier Review, Construction, and Shirley Magazine. Carter is adjunct faculty in the creative writing program at Portland State University.
Cold Mountain Review is published once a year in the Department of English at Appalachian State University. Support from Appalachian’s Office of Academic Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences enables CMR’s learning and publications program. The views and opinions expressed in CMR do not necessarily reflect those of university trustees, administration, faculty, students, or staff.