Marisa Siegel
Threadbare
These are days
that feel like the last;
I hardly muster
energy to reach
their end.
For instance, today
the news is grim
& no, I haven’t
heard from you;
it’s been two
weeks without —
fear gathers
at the edges
of my bedroom
window.
The cat crawls away
from my hand,
curls up instead
by my feet
because this is what
those I love
do: come only close
enough to draw
me into a corner,
keep the bend
from breaking.
It is 5 p.m.
& no one has eaten
dinner, is ready
to sleep, but I am
heavy as a boulder,
drowsy & dreading
doing this again
tomorrow.
Marisa Siegel holds an MFA from Mills College in Oakland, CA. Her essay "Inherited Anger" appears in the acclaimed anthology BURN IT DOWN (Seal Press, 2019) and her poetry chapbook FIXED STARS is out now from Burrow Press. Find her online at marisasiegel.com.