Algorithms

A theory: you deserve to be numb, but this is not your mother’s

menopause nor your grandfather’s Republican.

Despite the back fat, you must fight fascism

amid your hot flashes.

Another theory:

examine the spring for its trauma response.

Venus disappears, a 40 day retrograde.

Another winter gaslights us into

believing we are sad creatures

who need more gray loungewear.

Another politician gaslights us

into believing complacency buys salvation.

Motto for the year: Pick one

A. it’s easy  to quell  a rebellion of the weary

B. #goals scrolling = despair / shopping = numbness

C. our national news is bootlegged from Canada

D. et tu? Countrymen, you have cleaved my heart in half

Self-care for the end of the world:

Marie Kondo your mind. Buy the perfect T-shirt.

Listen to the music that once moved you. Remember

you are alive, a survivor of the last millennium.

The lines on your face a currency. Your life

is a bestseller a blockbuster a poem

a fucking revelation.

You are a drop water, now fall into the ocean and sing.

Rebecca Watkins holds an MFA in poetry and an MSed from the City University of New York. Her poems have appeared in The Banyan Review, Sin Fronteras, and The Roanoke Review among other literary journals. Her creative nonfiction has been shortlisted for The Malahat Review’s Open Season Awards. She is the author of Field Guide to Forgiveness (Finishing Line Press 2023) and Sometimes, in These Places (Unsolicited Press 2017). She lives in Hudson Valley with her husband and two dogs. More of her work can be found at rebeccawatkinswriter.com.