Today is not a dress rehearsal—I don’t get to live it over when I’m feeling more positive. ~ Lifeline Weekly, Vol. 5, No. 10

Some days I’m tired from having done so much,
knees aching, the spark smothered. Sometimes energy vanishes,
hopelessness settles like fog, the windows of life
opaque, blocked, frozen over or left covered with residue
from earlier icy days. Sometimes the tank is empty,
every gas pump covered with a sign, “Premium Only”
and the price isn’t worth it. Sometimes I bring a pill-taking glass
then sweep up the shards, scolding her for reaching out,
telling her I don’t want to fix a bloody hand as well.
Some days I don’t want to. But it’s the only day with this date
I’ll ever live. Rehearsal’s over, the show is on. It’s real.
God help me, it’s real. Not my will but yours be done.