SINKING FEELING & STANDING UP
good advice from Stephanie Anderson
sinking feeling
a man throws a beer over his neighbor’s fence and sinks it in their pool
a man throws himself in the neighbor’s pool and lands in their divorce
my father pretends
to be his father
when he tells me if he’s proud
a man collapses at 30,000 feet and i am useless in emergencies
a chair sinks through a window and i am left with my hands and the glass
i can’t think of a time i was told
there would be times like anything
let alone like this
standing up
is harder than it should be and if only that felt heroic, blaze of
light against the crash crush carve burning under muscle
of walking to the pantry & back sword still in the stone & back remember to get gas & back & back
& back
& back
when the ion slid in 2009
a man told him blame the deer
and he still barreled for ohio. legend was his father wrapped himself around a tree
and only lived a few more
decades, back when living through it meant you were wise or tough
but it’s different when it’s me
the agent on the phone is thankful i’m alive, only still
pain in the neck
Stephanie Anderson is a library worker, union organizer, and split end in baltimore, maryland. She’s @whoastanderson everywhere that matters but she’d love you to sign her guestbook at whoastanderson.com.
