Monday, September 30, 2024

IMAGINE WANTING TO LIVE

by Kristin Yates




So much you break 

the windows of your home

with the blunt force 

of your will 

to live—


though the house treads water,

and devastation 

like a muddy choke surrounds you 

where your life, your loved ones, used 

to breathe—


imagine wanting to live

so much—

you crawl to the roof

and you hunch

and you hold

and you wait

and you watch

and you wonder


how many bodies

human

nonhuman

dead

almost dead

are cremated 

in the flood’s current


and you pray to your will to live 


and you pray to the storm


and you pray to tomorrow


to let you       live,

please

let me      live. 


If you look close enough 

on the roof of any storm, 

you’ll find 

someone who wants         to live. 



Kristin Yates is an award-winning poet, artist, cat cuddler, and work in progress from Lewisville, North Carolina. Her poems have appeared in Tiny Seed Journal, Beyond the Veil Press, Writerly Magazine, Unstamatic, Campfire Poets, Scavengers, Green Ink Poetry, Last Leaves Magazine, and others.