This poem was another class exercise based on worry and how it becomes a source of connection to other people, a best friend really. 

 

Worry Some

 

An inherited sleeping partner hogs the night calm

From Grandfather’s ulcer or Aunt Hilda’s Dust Bowl ranch

A wide-eyed visitor resurrected from glaring city lights

Bus fumes, cops on night crawl and live jazz from the corner bar

No place to call my own between the sweaty sheets

 

My invisible ancestor teems up with

The sleepless girl a few apartments down because her body is maturing

Or the diapered guy chained to his bed in his delirious night in 3B

Or the homeless widow thrown out of government housing perched near the streetlight

 

Rolling over again my mind clamps down

On the new mother in the apartment below

Washing an irritated bottom as she watches the new moon from the dirty window

On the jobless father pacing in the smoke filled studio kitchenette

Not to disturb his sleeping teenagers and struggling to inhale peace

On the recluse next door where the nighttime

Holds his numerous addictions secret

 

The light of dawn sides with our common curse

Poking and prodding and pushing me to

Grasp the side of the mattress for one more second

Before I swallow another pill

Before the alarm crows

Before the coffeepot clicks to “Brew”

Before the food truck backs up blaring obnoxious beeps in the alley below

Before I turn over and smell the ugly breath of morning

I give in to the one who loves me the most