Woke up not smiling but grateful to walk
to the bathroom, wash my face.
Grateful my daughter
wants to help. A Bewick’s wren singing
outside my window, hello
from out there
where I cannot go, though will try to later
when I’ve taken half a Ritalin,
which gives me four hours
of relative pep. Yesterday we saw two juvenile eagles,
a chestnut-backed chickadee, stopped at a bench
where I did my five-part breathing
while feeling the cool breeze through lakeside willows.
Thankful, so thankful, my bestie’s in the kitchen,
brewing me tea, icing it to cool my throat,
sore from talking, the luck of talking, of every-three-hour hunger
fed. Anxiety, I forgive you. I face my fears in a pair
of loose-fitting pants with light blue
and yellow flowers, my needs becoming clearer—
hugs, naps, my daughter’s yam soup—untangling
the feelings like the mess of cords beside my bed.
Martha Silano has authored six poetry collections, including, most recently, This One We Call Ours, winner of the 2023 Blue Lynx Poetry Prize (Lynx House Press, 2024), and Gravity Assist (Saturnalia Books, 2019). She co-authored The Daily Poet: Day-by-Day Prompts for Your Writing Practice (Two Sylvias Press, 2013). Martha’s poems have appeared in Poetry, Paris Review, The Missouri Review, and American Poetry Review, and in many print anthologies, including the Best American Poetry series. Awards include North American Review’s James Hearst Poetry Prize and The Cincinnati Review’s Robert and Adele Schiff Poetry Prize. Martha’s website is available at marthasilano.net.