Normal
Makena Metz
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Everything returns to stasis
in time. Life goes on, the sun rises
and falls, and I am lost
in a sea of normal. Eat dinner,
go to sleep, wake up, walk the dog.
Normal is uncomfortable, unnatural.
After everything- I don’t want to
have to go on.
No one told me that trauma means nothing
to everyone but me. I carry the weight
in my mind, in my body,
in nerves, bones, and blood.
Normal is the sunset. Chronic
pain. Tomatoes sprout,
my legs hurt, my dog gets the ball,
I go to children’s birthday parties.
I focus on the words, the music,
cooking fettuccini and dancing
in the kitchen, tasting saltwater
from the ocean, listening to birdsong
as I wake up. Read a good book.
Make something with my hands.
Pain is constant, but I reclaim its power,
and nothing, everything finally makes sense.
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Makena Metz has an MFA in Creative Writing and MA in English from Chapman University. Makena’s work has been published with Broken Antler Magazine, Wordgathering, PearTree Press, The Clockhouse Review, The Bitchin’ Kitsch, Strange Horizons, The Fantastic Other, Arkana, and many others. Find her work @makenametz on social media, and check out makenametz.com.
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Posted in Blooms in Dusk and tagged in #boudin, #poetry, Poetry