Dialectic

Your brain is a film

played at 5x speed –

the images barely intelligible,

leave no room for thought, only gut.

Meanwhile, the theater is collapsing

in slow motion.

So you step outside and

begin naming everything you see,

attempt to capture some of the air

you’ve been denied. A half-smile

can turn your day around, some ice

applied to the cheeks can freeze

a spiral.

Dear Man, act fast to improve

this moment. It’s all you have

to share. There never was

a straight road, but trust your

wise mind and I promise

you’ll make it to the third act.

When all else fails, radically

accept yourself. There, before

the climax of every outburst,

you can find a place to stop

and catch your breath.

Thank you to Amber Harris for their inspired edit on this piece and everyone else on the Fiction team.

If you are interested in submitting a piece to the DG Sentinel, please visit our submissions page here.