Grief Gulp
By Han
the grief
grief sits heavy
between layers of skin
around organs
slows processes
of normal bodily function
inserts
into moments
distorts time so that
it drags and slips by
eternal dissonance
at once all too present in the body
and entirely dissociated
a desperate mother
dm’d me this morning
thanking me for posting
about Palestine
when others have begun to turn attention elsewhere
i cried for the times i’ve turned my attention elsewhere
and the ways in which i’ve allowed
the overwhelm
to keep me both from
turning up
and from
staying with myself
feeling what arises
in the cage of my chest