The last step – leave,
but not before step four –
placing the note somewhere
he’s sure to see it,
like his girlfriend’s bed
or taped to the whiskey.
Of course, step three
takes the longest –
the making and tossing
of plans, the beating back of fear,
the taming of your rage,
all of this kindled
by step two,
the stop-dead-in-your-tracks
recognition of just
where you are,
the acknowledgement
that you’ve been self-lying
insanity to regularity
and pain to normalcy,
which you never notice
until you finish step one –
when the fierce bit of your soul
whispers that you deserve love
and you believe.
Judge’s Comments:
Skillful wording, plus clever manipulation of time, creating a narrative in reverse order.
Gail Sosinsky
Poet’s Statement:
When I taught freshman composition at Penn State-Beaver, I always assigned my students to write a how-to paper about something they knew how to do well enough to teach it to others. I’m not sure I followed my own rules in this poem. I do know I didn’t really have a clue how to do it until I had done it, which explains the backward flow of time. To anyone else on this road, stay true to your soul. You are stronger than you think.