Is everything burning?
Or did everything break down?
I rub my eyes and sit up on the couch
I can’t bring myself to sleep in my bed
29 days since the accident
Or as I like to think of it
A month since it happened
Makes it more progressive
More impersonal
But really, I’m just trying to minimize the impact
So my so-called therapist says
The bandages and gauze are still over my arms
I change them every other day and put cream on the wounds
It hurts less than it did when I was in the ER
Doesn’t mean it stopped hurting
They still ache, burn and sting
Just a little less then before
I get off the couch in a sluggish way
With every slow step I take
I think I’m about to stumble
I’m a bee that was swatted by a rolled-up newspaper
Speaking of newspapers, the local one’s oddly absent
It’s always here every Sunday
I guess Lauren forgot today
I shrug and go into the kitchen
There’s leftover pancakes from yesterday
I slowly chew the pieces of reheated pancake with syrup
I try to remember to swallow
But the sickly sweet, possibly expired chocolate milk doesn’t help much
That’s my breakfast
What else will go on today?
I don’t even know
-Robert Herron
