Lessons

by Joyce Nancy

Talk the talk, stay in motion, wear your game face, never flinch. These
are lessons. Carry them in the front of your mind. Hold up the bowl of water

with both hands. Keep it steady, keep it level. If necessary, balance it on the top
of your head. See how well your body works then, what else you can hold onto.

An empty head feels safe, an empty stomach feels clean. There is no space for
anything anyway. The rooms in you are occupied, the heart in you pumps fast, keeps

you alert, never slows. They call it hypervigilance. They call it fight or flight or freeze.
Build a house behind your head that the noise can’t get to. It’s still & unbreachable so

nothing gets in or out. Forget where you are in time and space, suspend reality,
hide the clocks. Keep blinking. Make sure no one touches you. Don’t flinch,

hold up the bowl with both hands, keep your stomach clean, stay in the hidden house,
call it hypervigilance, call your mother. Keep moving, keep watch. Remember to remember.