Upstairs<\/p>\n
Everything I need is upstairs
\nwhen I\u2019m downstairs. A full flight
\nof stairs is exactly what happened
\nwhen I was rushing off to work,
\narms full, pocketbook that seemed
\nlined with bricks, tote bag brimming
\nwith essentials, and I\u2019m late for work.<\/p>\n
As if the steps are made of ice, I fly,
\narms flapping, bags dropping, feet
\npirouetting out-of-balance and I crash
\nland on the side of the stairs. How I got
\nthere, I\u2019ll never know. Our inquisitive dog,
\nSnapple, standing over me, asking
\n\u201cWhat are you doing on my floor, Mommy?\u201d
\nI don\u2019t know sweetie but it\u2019s not good.<\/p>\n
I sat on the stairs for a little while
\nbefore getting up, limping a little,
\nand going to work. Not good.
\nA few hours later, I\u2019m at urgent care
\nshaking my head in disbelief. I broke
\nmy knee. It\u2019s the day before Halloween
\nand I\u2019m hosting a poetry costume party
\nthe next day. My costume: a bride
\nand with my bruised knee and swollen ankle,
\nI could be Frankenstein\u2019s mate. X-rays say
\nstay off it but it\u2019s poetry, I\u2019m the host,
\nand I can\u2019t. Cocktail length skirt shows
\nmy brace but that\u2019s ok. My husband knows
\nwhen it comes to poetry, it\u2019s useless to protest.<\/p>\n
Later, at home, not good. I am miserable.
\nEvery blasted thing I need is upstairs
\nbecause I am trapped downstairs. I try
\nto improvise, use calendar boxes as
\na haiku journal, but the pen leaks blotches.
\nPaul had to run some errands so it\u2019s me
\nand Snapple. I finally find the courage to crawl
\nbackwards up the stairs. It took an eternity
\nto figure out how to get off the floor in the hall
\nbut I did it; Snapple helped. Bliss. Upstairs,
\nmy pillow, my bed, pens and journals, it\u2019s good
\nuntil Snapple has to go out. Urgent.<\/p>\n
Useless to cajole Snapple, I ride the stairs down
\nlike a playground slide, collide with the front door
\njust as Paul opens it. Not good. Now, I\u2019m strapped
\nin the recliner, stacks of pens and paper beside me,
\nmy pillow under my head, Snapple sleeping
\nnext to the chair guarding my every move,
\nand no way I\u2019m going upstairs for a long long time
\nand, I confess, that\u2019s good.<\/p>\n
~ J R Turek
\nJune 27, 2020
\nHour 10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Upstairs Everything I need is upstairs when I\u2019m downstairs. A full flight of stairs is exactly what happened when I was rushing off to work, arms full, pocketbook that seemed lined with bricks, tote bag brimming with essentials, and I\u2019m late for work. As if…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1325,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1325"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69560,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69518\/revisions\/69560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}