HOW TO GET BY
ignore everything
invent a life
more amenable
to your present situation
lie back
on your favorite couch
maybe doze off
dream something
even better than
your waking dreams
let the unmade stories
well inside you
not lies not truths
only the shimmer of possibility
the room will still be the room
with dishes in the sink
bills piled on the table
but you’ll have that little flicker
that cheap miracle
the one nobody can tax or repossess
rise slowly
step into the room
where the ordinary waits
sense that for a moment
how you slipped out the back door
of your own life
and nobody noticed
and your returned
refreshed rejuvenated
and maybe that’s enough
to keep you going
for one more lousy beautiful day
John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Midnight Mind, Trampoline and Flights. Latest books, “Bittersweet”, “Subject Matters” and “Between Two Fires” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Levitate, White Wall Review and Willow Review.
