Life before the Presidential Election

 The autumn dawn jolts her out of sleep.

She skims the paper, barely reading headlines.

Still, the newsprint soils her hands.

Finding the housekeys she lost minutes ago,

she feels the jagged edges that unlock home.

Canada, Australia, Ireland. Words swirling

in her mind like incantations.

Pedestrians shuffle down streets, scream

into cell phones. She rushes. Freeze. Fight.

Flight. She rushes. Heading nowhere.

The crossing guard in canary-yellow vest

halts street crossings. She waits, relieved

that order is so agreeable.

She remembers hiking with the man

who collapsed when his heart paused.

She waited. We waited. Would he recover,

or was the injury fatal?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR | Michelle M. Tokarczyk has published three books of poetry: The House I’m Running From, Bronx Migrations and, most recently, Galapagos: Islas Encantadas. Her poetry has also appeared in many journals and anthologies, including Third Wednesday, Unearthed, Masque & Spectacle, and For a Living: The Poetry of Work. She is a professor emerita of English at Goucher College. Tokarczyk was born and raised in New York City and has, for many years, been a Chelsea resident. To visit her website, click here: mmtokarczyk.com. Bronx Migrations can be purchased from Cherry Castle Publishing, by clicking here. Galapagos: Islas Encantadas can be purchased at Bookshop.org or Amazon.com or from Shanti Arts Publishing.

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