I’m the preparation for the earthquake
Kids hiding under desks and doorways pray
Hopeful this torture will end
Wait wait no…okay…uhm….hold on…okay…
I am the turbulence on the airplane
The lack of understanding that when you crash
There is nothing you could have done
No wait that doesn’t feel right either, I’m trying to say…
I am actually the mother’s eyes when she loses her kids inside a Costco
The mental breakdown in the middle of the cafeteria
And the time you spend driving around at 5pm
Procrastinating the assignment you didn’t even start.
That doesn’t make much sense either…let’s try….
Stress is a looming natural disaster
The forgotten first aid kit
The half empty water bottle in the back of your car
Uhm no… I can’t do that either…. So here’s the thing….
When I was born, I was a stress ball.
Squeezed by my mother when her marriage became too much
I wasn’t afraid of my bones being broken.
But wait… that didn’t work… okay… lets try something you’ll actually understand…
I was the adrenaline flowing through your veins when he kissed you
The shake of your hands during that presentation
I learned to siphon stress from the beings around me
I can’t do this. I can’t write this poem I can’t tell you….
Each time you pray to me
Tell me you feel my scorching iron inside you, I get stronger
I grew into a dodgeball
People didn’t want me to hit them
They didn’t want to feel the sting I brought, but it was inevitable.
Okay so like I shake things
No I make you shake things
Actually WAIT HOLD ON A MINUTE
I just have a lot going on, okay?!
I have to make you need me
EVEN THOUGH IT’S ME WHO NEEDS YOU
You’re the water that is my river,
Wait no that was a cliché
GAHH
I have to tell my mom
My best friend.
SHIT! I HAVEN’T EVEN INTRODUCED MYSELF YET!!!
I was chosen to be the Patron Saint of Stress
Stress only exists in increments of time.
At midnight, I am your reminder that your homework is one minute late
the professor is not forgiving.
At 5 am, I become your reminder that you have to be at work in two hours
and have gotten zero sleep
See, as a Patron Saint it is my job to remind you of things.
You know, be there for you.
It’s not my fault you don’t respond to stress well.
Just keep praying, keep praying to me until you can’t.
For once you are no longer alone, I will disappear
just like you wanted.
You know what?
FUCK THIS
I can’t do it anymore.
Zoey Sparks is an English/Journalism Major and will be going into their fourth year in Fall 2020. They recently transferred to the University of Arkansas from a small college in Salt Lake City, Utah.