Trigger Warning
Two weeks since the weight of steel caps,
hi viz is back on like I’m dressing a wound.
I’ve been hanging on like nobody’s business,
by my fingernails, by the skin of my teeth
behind a mask that sags from wear and me
still trying to keep the abstracts from leaking.
My reality is stark inside what now, barely passes
for a human smile, while I watch others happily
volunteering for futures, I’m struggling to accept
that I’ve become not a son for the second time.