I.
The truth is
We’re all born with a natural speed
And mine is a bit
Overclocked. I’ve always been like this.
When I was a kid
My aunt tried to tell me
To go to bed with a book to fall asleep.
Laughed when I took two.
Stopped laughing when I came padding out
In little stocking feet
In need of more.
There’s room for words in here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
II.
The truth is
I don’t like the way I feel
When I scroll on my phone: jittery.
Anxious. It’s hard to say this
Without sounding like I’m claiming a virtue
I’m not. I just don’t like
The fidgety feeling. Also
I was born with more than my share
Of executive function.
I brought enough for the whole class.
So it’s easier for me to do
What I mean to do. To find my intention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
III.
The truth is
I was probably bitten in infancy
By a radioactive bookworm,
Though there is no record of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IV.
The truth is
I like to read. Reading is what I like best.
I squeeze it in
When I can. Stir the soup. Read a little.
Fold the laundry. Read a little.
Do my work. Read a little.
Call my mom. Read a little.
Also words are my job, so sometimes
This looks like:
Read a little. Read a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
V.
The truth is
Last month I sat by my grandmother’s bed
While she died. And I read.
I read in the hospital. I read in hospice.
For most of it
She no longer wanted to talk
Rarely asked for water
So I read.
Mystery novel after mystery novel
Justice following justice
Until her end. Books sustained me
While I tried to let go
Of sustaining her.
Books were not her refuge
But because she embraced me,
She embraced them being mine.
I would rather mourn
With Tennyson than without
With Dylan Thomas than without.
I hated last month
But I got through it with books.
That’s how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Periodically someone asks me. This was today’s answer.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I.The truth isWe’re all born with a natural speedAnd mine is a bitOverclocked. I’ve always been like this.When I was a kidMy aunt tried to tell meTo go to bed with a book to fall asleep.Laughed when I took two.Stopped laughing when I came padding outIn little stocking feetIn need of more.There’s room for words […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-4118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-covid-poems"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marissalingen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marissalingen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marissalingen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marissalingen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marissalingen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marissalingen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4119,"href":"https:\/\/marissalingen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4118\/revisions\/4119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marissalingen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marissalingen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marissalingen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}