Follow the Leader
My mom said, “Stop thinking so much,”
So I read a bunch of books and tried to imagine
What it would be like to be anyone else
Who Jane Austen ever wrote
The boy said, “Lexapro, Adderall, Xanax,”
So I went to his doctor and got a prescription
And suddenly I couldn’t feel anything
Which was everything I ever wanted for a whole five minutes at a time
The therapist said, “More therapy,”
So I went to see her every week with my carefully folded bills
Pressed them to her palm and begged for truth
Only to be told I’d find out the answers next week
The trainer said, “More yoga,”
So I patiently followed the sequences of those
More spiritually enlightened than I
As I shriveled into the cold the instant I left the warmth of the studio
My insides said, “Stop trying, you’re safer here alone,”
So I fearfully kept it all within
While surrounded by others convinced they knew
A better path for me than I had chosen
But it was you who said, “Keep writing,”
Even when I ran out of all the words
So I pressed my pen to paper
And tried to write you a love song
Photograph by Ashley Batz
