“The Physics of Love is all about connection, the starstuff that intertwines mother and child, soul and stone, and the living and the dead–‘all of us spinning against each other in the dark’ and ‘bumping into God’ while we’re at it. With surprising imagery and fearless spirituality, Kirchner blurs the border between heaven and earth, delighting us with its gorgeous heartaches and mysteries. A dazzling debut worthy of savoring again and again.”

—Tania Runyan, author of What Will Soon Take Place: Poems and How to Write a Poem

Excerpt from The Physics Of Love

The Law of Inertia

We are taking the piano apart,
no longer willing to drag it from place to place.
The “A” below middle “C” is stubbornly silent.
I barely remember the lessons or the way
my fingers cupped all that music,

Together, we remove the lid.  

Together, we heave out its heart and all
its delicate hammers like so many broken fingers.
Each snipped string recoils with regret
until there is nothing left to do but lug it to the curb.

“Perhaps we should keep it,” you say.
But how, with all that history between us,
the bench in pieces on the dining room floor,
the keys already scattered to the snow?