Untethered
what anger in defiance
what sympathy in doubt
emotions steady try us
demanding every shout
what sympathy in doubt
what pleasure in our pain
demanding are our shouts
such hazardous terrain
what pleasure in our pain
mere thinness to our skin
such hazardous terrain
such unrelenting din
sheer thinness of our skin
the ruptures and the breaks
such unrelenting din
mistake after mistake
we rupture and we break
we stagger and we shine
mistake after mistake
inhabiting our minds
we stagger and we shine
we live our lives on spin
inhabiting our minds
and undermining limbs
we live our lives on spin
and thrive until we grieve
we undermine our limbs
then get the strength to leave
we thrive until we grieve
emotions steady try us
we get the strength. we leave.
what anger in defiance.
Copyright © 2020 by Allison Joseph. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on July 13, 2020 by the Academy of American Poets.
“‘Untethered’ is both a personal and a communal poem. I am recently widowed, so am feeling highly untethered from my previous married life. But the poem is also concerned with the isolation we’re all feeling because of the COVID-19 situation. The struggle is way too real and way too much.”
—Allison Joseph
Allison Joseph
Allison Joseph is the author of Confessions of a Barefaced Woman (Red Hen Press, 2018). She lives in Carbondale, Illinois.