Today was better,
less consumed
with pain and terror.

When I awoke, still in bed,
for a little while I wished for
tender and unhurried sex.

Weariness didn’t sow fear like
yesterday’s curse; it had become
a foreign cousin, here to stay the year.

I got up, shuffled through a little
housework, paid some bills. Opened
the blinds to let the sun into my heart.

Today I kept down lunch, on a hunch
chose tomorrow’s menu. Let myself
want to live again.