Three New Poems: “Spark” “In the Shade” and “Sleep Lab”

Making the best of the situation. It’s all we ever can do, but the confines of our lives have never been more visceral. A semi-permanent feeling of those limits has led to many of us feeling bitter, feeling irritable, feeling malaise, or feeling nothing at all. Many of us exist in a kind of zombie-mode, sleep-walking through our days, wondering when we’ll be able to do so many of the things we used to do, or when our jobs/entertainment/culture will come back or when we’ll know what is safe. Not knowing what’s next leads to mild anxiety and low-level stress.

At The Atlantic, James Hamblin’s article “Is Everyone Depressed” paints a complicated picture of our current mental health.

Feelings of numbness, powerlessness, and hopelessness are now so common as to verge on being considered normal. But what we are seeing is far less likely an actual increase in a disease of the brain than a series of circumstances that is drawing out a similar neuro-chemical mix. This poses a diagnostic conundrum. Millions of people exhibiting signs of depression now have to discern ennui from temporary grieving from a medical condition. Those at home Googling symptoms need to know when to seek medical care, and when it’s safe to simply try baking more bread.

With all of this in mind, I’ve continued trying to carve out moments of creativity in my sleep-deprived days of toddler parenting (middle of the night escapes into our bed) and zoom teaching (ESL night class on weeknights). I don’t want…