Too many things don’t respond
to a pause. And I say, so be it—
It’s late and dark and stormy.
Palms itch to pounce
on uncalculated risks
and pots of piss at rainbow’s
end. A red light flashes in the distance;
it’s all eye of the storm
that won’t abide
to weathervanes and a thirst for lack.
Audrey L. Reyes is a Filipina writer and poet breathing polluted air in Manila. Her favorite workplace activity is raising hell. Over the course of the pandemic, she’s had time to practice pourover coffee brewing. She hopes to one day have the energy and skills to follow through on her daydreams.