resilience
not resilient in the sense of easygoing
doesn’t let things get to her
shakes it off—not like that
not resilient like we can bounce back
from tragedy after fucking tragedy
overcoming with grace—no
not resilient in the sense of flexible
bending easily with life's vicissitudes
life’s fucking vicissitudes—not likely
but resilient in that we’re still alive
resilient in picking up the broken pieces
resilient in continuing to live, broken
stumbling, in pain, but here
shaking our fists at god and man
taking our meds and texting our friends
making coffee like an ancient ritual
reading poetry like a fucking iv
swearing in our poems because
the poets taught us how—
resilient like that
***
from my new poetry collection, Open Things
Fun fact: My book, Good Morning, Friends is only $5.74 on Amazon right now, but I get $7.20 in royalties per purchase, so if you buy it Amazon will pay me $1.46 out of their own pocket. So even if you hate Amazon, this is a great deal! Why not get a few for stocking stuffers?
The vicissitudes line is chef's kiss. I *felt* that.