#119 Why Is It So Hard?

All I did was try to attend a flu clinic and now I am overwhelmed with anxiety.
I went to the office at 2:15pm but there were too many people! I read my book and went back at 3:30...too many people! I sat downstairs for twenty minutes and tried one more time. I didn't look at the adults and children waiting in the hall and got as far as putting my hand on the door. The reception room was full with kids all over the floor. Now the panic came in waves. I couldn't breathe. My heart was pounding so hard I thought they could hear it inside. I ran.
I cried all the way home. I hate this. It is so ridiculous. This is one of those days when I cannot stand to be seen. I cannot walk through a group of people with nothing to do but stare at me. Kids are the worst. I become upset around them, I think, because they are so unpredictable.

How I would love to hurt myself right now; just to calm myself down and help me forget. Why is everything so hard?

#118 Man of the House

“Be strong...
look after your Mother and Sister.”
i nod agreeably.
This Doctor,
who has come to the house
to declare my Father dead,
hands me a pill...
and appoints me,
the youngest,
head of this fragmented Family.

i take the job
because
the shining centre,
my older brother,
has been murdered by a drunk driver
just six months ago.

The Sun was gone
and now my Dad is gone too.

Through those dark winter months
i watched cancer
dig this second hole
in our wretched, despairing, despondent Family.

“Off to church we go,
God will help you cope
when I am gone.”
But He didn’t Dad,
because i didn’t know how to ask.

So,
here am i...the
ill-equipped replacement.
“Bring home the bacon,
dress the part,
take care of everyone!”
Where are my blue tights and cape?

Reeling from this double disaster,
i keep trying to conquer my fear,
to outrun sickness and accident
that can come in the night
and take another one of us.

Trying to keep everyone safe
didn’t leave time
for growing up.
i became the Man of the House
when i was just a scared little girl.