Ideation To Do List
𝥷 September 1st—Back To School Night!
Write in planner, so I won’t forget.
Don’t know if I’ll make it.
𝥷 (for poem) It’s August 25th, a day after her birthday.
Her eyes sparkled like the candles on her cake.
I made it.
𝥷 Received a last-minute invitation (RSVP by 9 p.m.)
Might be too short of a notice.
Don’t know if I’ll make it.
It’s in two days.
𝥷 Have to schedule a Zoom meeting.
Maybe I should wait a couple of weeks to see—
if I make it.
𝥷 Feel like drinks soon.
Should call Ana to schedule a date.
Don’t know if—
I’ll make it
I don’t want him to have to tell her.
𝥷 Maybe I should drink now (buy a bottle of vodka just in case).
I have nothing planned.
I just need—
to find courage.
𝥷 I need to write my intentions—
for the rest of the year.
I don’t think—
I’ll make it.
𝥷 There’s still Halloween.
She wants to be a witch again
Says she can cast spells, and I believe her.
But don’t know if—
I’ll make it.
Maybe I should buy her costume early.
𝥷 Also Thanksgiving.
I should write down—
the recipe for the stuffing I cook every year.
Somewhere he can find it.
In case--
I don’t make it.
𝥷 There’s still Christmas too.
Don’t know if—
I’ll make it.
Will buy gift cards, so Christmas shopping—
is easier for them.
𝥷 A new year can mark a fresh start.
Something to look forward to.
I don’t know if—
I’ll make it.
Amid An Awakening, Grief Awakens As Well
Grief is not
two dimensional
It’s an onion with layer
after layer that stings
but also cleanses. It’s dew
that holds hundreds
of scars moist
in the darkness. I
search other gardens
for love that never
rooted. My bloom
waits for the grace
of a rainshower to
sprout a new skeleton.
Which may mean death,
but I just escaped that.
I want to heal
my ancestors,
so their spirits feel
lighter on my bones.
To write my woe
so beautifully, a dance
of jubilee will seal
the soil that didn’t
erode with grief.
Rocío Franco is a self-identified Chicana warrior poet from Chicago. She holds fellowships from The Watering Hole and Periplus Collective. The Frost Place, VONA, and Tin House have supported her work. She is a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee. Her poems have appeared in The Acentos Review, Lunch Ticket, L@tino Literatures Journal, AGNI, december magazine, and others. Her work is forthcoming in Mom Egg Review.
Serotonin 