1. when is the last time you left the house if not to sit
in your backyard maybe twice for an hour

2. out of seven books assigned for you to read this semester
you read only two

3. and cannot count with accuracy how many times
you brushed your teeth or washed your hair

4. in the last month and a half because it is not as regimented
of a process as you promised yourself

5. you ordered maybe sixty balls of yarn to your house
and that’s not all!

6. somehow dozens of packages are supposed to make you feel
more connected

7. to the outside world but you don’t think it’s working

8. you needed to use a heating pad on your abdomen
for the first time in years because you’ve just had your worst
period cramps since you were eleven and somehow

9. you developed the habit of laying with it every night
because it reminds you of cuddling with your lover

10. i think i know what it feels like now when i leave my sims
in a box in that video game

11. and let their needs turn red

12. you’re running low on pesto you should buy another jar
next week

---

Madeline Blair (she/her) is a poet, editor, and award-winning filmmaker from Chicago, IL, with a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is the founder/editor-in-chief of Sabr Tooth Tiger Magazine. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Okay Donkey, Burial Magazine, Luna Luna Magazine, Libre Lit, Ekphrasis Magazine, and more. She was once quoted in The New York Times on her passion for clean air.

Website: madelineblair.carrd.co
Twitter: @magnoliasskye
Instagram: @m.s.blair
TikTok: @m.s.blair