Love in the Time of Cards Against Humanity
Accidentally rocking out
To the Christian radio station while alone
In my car. Meanwhile, on NPR,
The world was running out
Of water. Meanwhile, the world was at war.
When I’m in love I find myself
Having more of a stake in the world, suddenly
Terrified of: war drafts, drunk drivers,
Dormant volcanoes, the inevitable
Heat death of the universe, microbes
In the water supply, the precarious nature
Of icebergs, biblical plagues, pretty much
Anything they talk about on the news.
On the news they talk about
An Instagram picture of a young boy
Holding up the severed head
Of a soldier. His father stands next to him,
Holding another head. In another place,
Fifteen people are killed as they sleep
On the floor of a school. Little kids
Asleep on the linoleum, then
Not. Little kids with other people’s blood
On their tee-shirts. Little kids that dream
About bombs. When I wake up
Before him I put my head on his chest
And listen to make sure his heart
Is still sloshing around in there.
I didn’t ask to have this much
To lose, Edith, I didn’t! I find solace
In the idea that one day we’ll find
Another planet to start over
Fucking up. I want to raise my children
There, each in their own little indestructible
Silver pod. I can’t imagine how many disposable
Coffee cups I’ve gone through
In this life, how many pounds of cherries
I’ve let rot in the fridge. All day today
I lay on the sofa, drinking La Croix
In the air-conditioning, getting bummed out
About a pair of earrings I can’t afford
On eBay. This morning I woke myself up
Crying. In my dream
My iPhone had a cracked screen.
This poem originally appeared in Day One and has been reprinted with permission of the author. Meg Freitag was born in Maine and now lives in Austin, Texas, where she is a James A. Michener fellow.
