How to Not Worry About Someone Else

[lawrencemullen]

title: How to Not Worry About Someone Else

step one
your partner leaves your apartment
thirty minutes/an hour/three hours
before you to get to
work/class/a friend's
you fall back asleep because tiredness
trumps your current anxiety
your previous anxiety
kept you up until three am
worrying about a break-in
via the fire escape

step two
remember that your apartment is just you
on twitter septasocial
doesn't report any accidents/medical emergencies
but you remember there was a suicide
at walnut/locust and that wasn't reported

step three
which is safer
bus/trolley/the el/bsl
which is safer
a college campus/your apartment/the el stop

step four
send them a message about something arbitrary
dinner/grocery list/coffee after work
checking their pulse via text

step five
think about your plans
what you want to do
today/next week/in eight months
you both have things to do
and you know that the majority of people
must make it home at the end of the day
because the population isn't depleting 

step six
they text you back

[maranda]

This poem is funny. I think the title should be How TO worry about someone else which remedies the only part I didn't go for: Step Six. It's too neat. I remember this anxiety well and the disguises we put on to not look crazy. At the beginning of my relationship this was definitely me, now I just don't care and text things like, "I heard an ambulance and you are .523 seconds late, are you alive?"

This poem is relatable. I would go for conclusion not resolution in this one, maybe just giving us a dramatic image/images of how the population could deplete rapidly like tangled metal and last breaths jamming all intersections or serial killer calling cards everywhere followed by the line that the population isn't depleting at a rapid pace lol you know something like that, then you could end on what text you decide to send and we're still left with anxiety, which is great. This is just an example, and it's your poem so please don't be offended or think I'm telling you what you should say:

and you know that the majority of people
must make it home at the end of the day
the streets are not blood-soaked with
serial killer calling cards, tangled metal
and last breaths do not jam every intersection,
the population isn't depleting at a rapid pace,
I'll just ask if you want to see a movie.



step four
send them a message about something arbitrary
dinner/grocery list/coffee after work
checking their pulse via text<<<<<<<<LOVE THIS.

[whoismisterjim]

Jan 20, 2018 15:00:45 GMT maranda said:

This poem is funny. I think the title should be How TO worry about someone else which remedies the only part I didn't go for: Step Six. It's too neat. I remember this anxiety well and the disguises we put on to not look crazy. At the beginning of my relationship this was definitely me, now I just don't care and text things like, "I heard an ambulance and you are .523 seconds late, are you alive?"

This poem is relatable. I would go for conclusion not resolution in this one, maybe just giving us a dramatic image/images of how the population could deplete rapidly like tangled metal and last breaths jamming all intersections or serial killer calling cards everywhere followed by the line that the population isn't depleting at a rapid pace lol you know something like that, then you could end on what text you decide to send and we're still left with anxiety, which is great. This is just an example, and it's your poem so please don't be offended or think I'm telling you what you should say:

and you know that the majority of people
must make it home at the end of the day
the streets are not blood-soaked with
serial killer calling cards, tangled metal
and last breaths do not jam every intersection,
the population isn't depleting at a rapid pace,
I'll just ask if you want to see a movie.



step four
send them a message about something arbitrary
dinner/grocery list/coffee after work
checking their pulse via text<<<<<<<<LOVE THIS.

There is some language which also keeps me out of part six. What about it create a neat arc? Is there a way to leave the section more open?

[laurenjacquish]

It's just a snappy line.snappy lines create confident tones often and the content of the other sections reflect anxiety. That detailed anxiety makes this poem accessible and compelling.

[Brielle Kroner]

This is RELATEABLE. Especially step four. I am so guilty of doing that. I agree that this seems like a guide on how to worry, not how to not worry.

[lawrencemullen]

I definitely agree with y'all about changing the title, in retrospect, it makes way more sense

[Kate Burnham]

I am a fan of having one more step, ending on an even number--you could probably come up with a step that isn't so "neat: for example, you could include something about scolding the person who never texted you back, making you imagine that they had died a horrible death, mangled and mashed on a highway overpass. Maranda basically suggested including this type of description in step five. Either would work, depending on what number you like to end your lists on.