To celebrate the publication of issue 43.2 Devour, Room would like to share a poem from one of our issue contributors, Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch. You can read “The Fatigue” in print, as well as two more of Eli’s brilliant poems, by ordering the issue online.
The Fatigue is just fatigue. It
sprays my body like
a numbing agent. Say the
way I sleep might not be
working, say the way I eat
might not be working
Hope to god the meds
start working. The other day
she said you need firmer
boundaries. Sometimes
this looks like an earlier
bedtime. Fuel your body
with hope that something
might change. Like a bowl of rice
steaming, put it in your mouth
and huff, too quick, too impatient
But if nothing changes, keep
moving. A challenge is only a challenge
once you stop trying. No, I mean
a challenge is always a challenge
when your body doesn’t work right
What is right? They only say
the right side of history when
a few decades have passed
Someday, we will look back
and see much of the same
Say thank you for your friends
and the family that stays in touch
Was it challenging? Everything is
changing. The fatigue is just fatigue
until it’s not.
Photo by Lucas Benjamin on Unsplash
