Patience
Some days, the privilege of living isn’t enough.
The weight of the kettle is unbearable. You leave the teabag
forlorn in the mug, unpoured. Cooking seems too great a price to pay
for eating. Instead, you sit and you look at a book without reading it.
The shower feels like too much. Your pajamas feel like too much.
You tell yourself (falling asleep in your jeans) that tomorrow will be better.
You’ll do things tomorrow. You’re good at waiting for good things.
Wait for the morning birdsong, the greasy tastiness of bacon,
the day’s first robin, the gentle thrum of traffic, the crunch of fallen leaves.
Wait for the smell of paper, the coolness of river water,
the low clouds daubed with stripes of sunset pink and orange,
the peaceful early moon hanging resolute in a pale evening sky.
George Turner is a writer currently completing his BA in Creative Writing from the University of Gloucestershire. His poetry has been read aloud in the Cheltenham Poetry Festival’s Student Showcase 2024.