if it begins to hurt
if nothing is hurting you and you are free,
if the sun is shining
and the car was given to you
and the gasoline is grant-funded,
if the sky grays and starts to sprinkle
and you pedal a stationary bike with light resistance,
if you work all day on your feet for your wages
and dinner is scant,
if you have the flu in a blizzard
and the subway doesn’t come,
if you are abandoned by the best person at the worst moment,
if you don’t recognize yourself in a public bathroom mirror,
if you run face-first into a wall,
if you come out the other side,
if your fingers and toes are saw-toothed and electric
and you scramble and tunnel through rock
to become a subway no one ever conceived,
if you are dangerous but mostly to yourself,
if you are an elemental, a djinn, an archangel,
if you are terrible,
if your flesh melts
and your hair grays and you forget,
if you want to end
but you have to start over
Tucker Lieberman’s poetry is in Déraciné, Dream Noir, Esthetic Apostle, Neologism, Prometheus Dreaming, Rockvale Review, and the Trigger Warning anthology from The Sad Bitch Chronicles. He wanders around Bogotá, Colombia with the science fiction writer Arturo Serrano. www.tuckerlieberman.com Twitter: @tuckerlieberman