The Paddock Review

Someday
                     “You must change your life.”
                                    —Rainer Maria Rilke

You tell yourself someday, because someday means there is still hope,
but you know hope is on a plane to Cancun and getting drunk on
vodka and canned pineapple juice. You tell yourself someday,
because someday is a primer that will take the paint of any story. At
night, you hear moths throwing themselves at the windows. You
wonder if there is a way to feel even smaller. At night, you remember
all the reasons you told yourself to stay. You fill your own mouth
with sugar; make an oath against a stick. It doesn’t help. Someday has
landed, the wheels touching down politely, like a business card
pressed against a palm. You know it won’t last—someday will come
after you like old spice and chicken wire. Pretend it won’t hurt if you
have to. You know what you need to do. Come here. Come close
to this poem. Closer. Listen to it. It knows you deserve better. We
both know you’ve outgrown someday like a piece of cheap jewelry.

….

This poem is from the chapbook Adiabatic Flame by Shari Crane Fox (Finishing Line Press), and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/adiabatic-flame-by-shari-crane-fox/