I need a poem to get me through this sh*tshow

And maybe you do, too.

I need a poem

By Jane Roper, non-poet

.

I need a poem

about resisting despair

when the world feels like

a knife in my kneecap

or a boulder in my shoe

or a hot cast-iron skillet on my forehead

or some other very unpleasant thing.

.

I am not a poet

clearly.

I can, however, make

line breaks

to trick you

into thinking that this

is a poem.

It is not a poem.

OR IS IT?

.

I need a poem

by Maya Angelou or Mary Oliver or Richard

Blanco

or any halfway decent poet, really.

I’d even take an MFA student.

I need a poem about how there is succor to be found

in the scything wings of the swallow

and the daisy’s hopeful countenance.

You know. That sort of thing.

But better.

Much, much better.

.

I need a poem

with a repeating line, like “I need a poem,”

to rock me like a cradle while this dumpster fire burns.

But with way better similes than “rock me like a cradle”

And probably no mention of dumpster fires

either.

Definitely nothing about the distant bang of boots and bullets,

or bleeding wombs.

It’s just too much alliteration. And horror.

.

I need a poem

that will kindle resolve

in the tinder of my tender heart.

Hey, that sounded nice just then—

the consonance, the internal rhymes.

But probably overkill.

Sorry.

.

Maybe I need a poem

with a variant on that repeating line

and a reminder that the osprey

also fear the specter of fascism

but you don’t see them freaking out about it, do you.

Be like an osprey, I want this poem to tell me.

An osprey that votes, and writes letters, and steadily builds

its heaven-high nest

instead of freaking the fuck out.

.

I need a poem

that will exhort me to be like the sun

which daily insists on obliterating the darkness,

like a daisy’s hopeful countenance.

Ha ha. Call back.

.

Seriously, though, I need a poem.

Shouldn’t there be one going viral right about now?

Amanda Gorman, where are you?

HELP.

.

I need a poem

to get me through this shitshow

and I suspect that you do,

too.

.

I’m sorry.

I’ve got nothing.

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All posts on Jane’s Calamity are free and publicly available, but writing things (other than poetry) is how I make my living. If you enjoy my work, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription, or buying my book. (Below.) Thank you!