by Karah Kay Pay-an
I open my eyes then close them again.
I roll to my side and pull up my blanket.
I imagine myself at work already.
I hear my phone ring above my head.
I really don’t want to get up.
I really try to fight my sleepiness.
I slowly opened my eyes.
I look at the open window.
I see only the garden’s silhouette,
and the dim glow of the garden’s lamp.
A sudden notion comes to mind,
that it’s this older life I’m afraid of,
with its withering spell cast upon me.
This older life that wearies me.
Unable to fight with all my might
unlike before. To fight a never ending battle
called reality with its dreadful monsters¬—
the siren named Society, with its
seductive voice that can
drown me any moment if
I’m not careful, and a gorgon
named Debt,
with its petrifying gaze countered
only with weighty money shield.
Few examples of the monsters I
face daily yet,
I don’t face these monsters ever,
alone.
Color by Truc Luong
