It is human
To be sad
When sad
Things happen
Human to despair
Over the unthinkable
Unfolding
Human to wonder
Do I have what it takes
To make it through
What generations before me
Have not
A good question
To be sure
One that can only
Be answered
With time
I do not multi task
So if the phone rings
At a time when
I’m doing literally
Anything else
I’m not going to answer it
If it rings
While I’m driving
In my 20 year old
Bluetooth less Toyota
I’m not going to answer it
But also
If I did have Bluetooth
Even then
I wouldn’t answer it
If my phone rings
While I’m home
Finally making a recipe
I’ve been waiting to try
I’m not going to answer it
If it rings
During the hour
I have happily set aside
To get lost in a read
I’m not going to answer it
Should it ring
At days end
While I’m scrolling
Social media
Yes even then
I won’t be answering it
If I’m talking
In person
With any human
Be it neighbor, friend
Mailman or cashier
I’m not going to answer it
If I’m peacefully sitting
With my dog
Petting her
And telling her again
That she’s a queen
I’m not going to answer it
If I’m sitting on my couch
Silently going over words
In my head
That will one day become
A poem
I’m not going to answer it
There is a line
Sprawled for miles
Of things fighting
For my time
And if I don’t protect
What’s important to me
It disappears
And I can’t have that
So if you have a question
Maybe email it
That I will answer
Usually the same day
But only
During the moments of my day
That I’m not already doing
Something I enjoy
So much more
If you have information
That you know
Could instantly lift
An unbearable burden
Off the back
Of a fellow human
But opt not to share it
Because un-complicating
Someone else’s life
Might complicate
Yours
Then you suck
And if you are not interested
In exposing yourself to facts
In learning as an adult
What you were never taught
As a child
Than at least have the sense
Not to be the loudest one
In the room
What heavy burden
Are you carrying
Today
Maybe bankruptcy
Or cancer
Or something else
Too painful
To mention
What if someone
Walked through the door right now
And brought the solution
Told you that
A huge surprise inheritance
Had just paid your debts
Told you that
The cure for cancer
Had been found
Told you the suffering was over
And though
The last many years
Had nearly broken you
Required you
To make impossible choices
As you scraped together a life
With no funds
Required you
To say goodbye
To those you loved dearly
As cancer took them
From this earth
What if you then learned
That the inheritance left to you
Was supposed to be given
Nearly three years ago
That the cure for cancer
Had really been found
Long before
Those you loved
Died
You might still
Be thankful
For the windfall
For the cure
But you’d also damn sure
Be angry
That such life altering information
Was intentionally withheld
And when finally
You realized
That this injustice
Was by design
You’d see
As well
How little
Has changed
Sometimes
Things fall
Apart
Completely
Unexpectedly
Unfathomably
Everything
That matters
Destroyed
And all
That can
Be done
Is nothing really
Only wait
Bear witness
Give name
To the pain
That took
Everything
Maybe one day
Years later
Relearn
To breathe
Maybe one day
Write the story
Of what you’ve
Lived through
Maybe one day
Look the ending
Loss has written you
Dead in the eyes
Hold its gaze
Pick up a pen
Rewrite