The New Normal
This is your new normal.
This is your newly-minted, shiny-penny, first-chance
try to get it right. This is the time for you to recognize this symbol of
crisis and opportunity are exactly the same. This is your rush
to judgment, your denial of what’s real, your chance
to put it all behind you before it has even begun.
This is the ending we’ve all been waiting for.
This is real, this is how, this is what you’ve decided to manifest.
This is best for all concerned.
This is your empty vessel diseased
with the knowledge that all is healthy.
This is your be-all, end-all.
This is your tear-off-your-head, spit-down-your-neck
fan-tastic. This is your way out.
This is you, punching the next face of the next person
who tells you everything happens for a reason. This is you facing
the inevitable. This is your attempt
to make amphigorical sense of all the rigmarole around you.
This is your body, at war with your mind.
This is biting the head off a bat.
This is crazy.
This is head-banging, hand-wringing, breath-catching, eye-rolling
madness. This is a lack of acceptance.
This is your time to take it all in, begin again, recycle and restructure and
embrace the toxic nature.
This is the time that the poison pours forth.
This is the time to smile and open your mouth. This is the time to be brave.
This is what you hang your hat on, this is what you bargained for,
this is what you must pursue.
This is here. This is now.
This is your last chance.
Gillian Thomas is a Washington, DC-area writer and mother to her 8-year old son. A graduate of New York City’s Hunter College, Thomas received her bachelor’s degree in English and theater before first being published in the journal The Iconoclast. After many years in NYC, she now lives in the Washington, DC area, writing and sharing parenting duties with her significant other. Thomas’ work has also appeared, or is forthcoming in, JMWW journal, Pembroke, Gargoyle, and Spry.