Not resilient like that

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

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from my poetry collection, Open Things

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