October 19, 2021

revision **

What if I told myself to dream an answer,
and what if it landed on my shoulders before I even had the chance to fall asleep,
and what if it was so precise it made my eyes sting, and what if
I pick the choice I don’t know the outcome to, and what if I end
on a preposition, and what if I am not a purist, and what if I already know
when it’s time, and what if each day is like an empty plate, and what if I stopped trying
to defend myself, and what if it’s all in my imagination, and what if a short distance
is enough to begin a new narrative, and what if I drew myself into being,
like a swan draws itself through water, gliding,
just gliding.

** This is a revision of a Facebook post I wrote. I challenged myself to create a poem from the raw materials of the paragraph I composed.