My health insurance got cancelled last week.

This

I do not want to hear.

I do not care that I can

reinstate it today.

I do not care that I emerge

five days later, insured

and unscathed.

I am not grateful for the miracle

of good health which

is not a small miracle.

I do not want to hear

that I have to do it all

now alone.

My back-up man is gone—

the one who's had my back,

the one who picked up

the pieces of my busy-ness,

the one who made sure there was milk

for cereal because

he loved his morning latte,

so I didn't worry about milk.

He still loves his morning latte

but forgets milk.

I don't want to hear

that we will evolve

into a muddy, moldy ruin

sooner than we must

if I do not

pay attention.

Pay attention now

to all the things 

all the time.

I do not want to let the metaphors

slip away when they soak up

too much of my brain,

my ability to focus

on the bills,

the milk, the tires,

the phone, the sheets,

the overflowing gutters.

 

- Peg Edera