The Bind

The Bind (originally published in the Beloit Poetry Journal)

I only have one life to care

for; one’s enough to keep breathing

passages clear, afford Ensure

twice daily, check contagion &

keep breathing easy enough too,

if shallow, & temps fine—so I take them

twice daily to check—for contagion

lies in wait. I can only think of him &

though shallow, I take not-fine temps

hard, slip him ice chips, slip outside,

can only think what lies in wait:

tides reclaiming our shores bit-by-

lip; hard ice chipping, slipping out; side-

stepping patdowns, lockdowns; e-

everything tying us, claimed. I am sure

of no next move, save a dry Depend.

Step by step I unlock tabs, pat down

skin with a clean wipe, focus only

on dry Poise, depend on next to move

me from my own paralysis. No form

of which wipes clean onus to a world

of kin, or ensures clear passage forward—

from paralysis, know I don’t

own my life—only have one, to care—

Cate Lycurgus’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Best American Poetry, American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. She has also received scholarships from Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences and 2^nd place in Narrative’s Annual Poetry Contest for 2022. Cate lives in San Jose, California, where she interviews for 32 Poems and teaches professional writing.

You can find her at www.catelycurgus.com. 

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