Amanda Forrester
In a Time of Crisis
I punch myself.
When it is time
I do not act.
Allow me to demonstrate:
I laugh on the outside
to make you feel better.
I am exhausted from faking it.
My survival depends
on my imagination.
There will not always be time.
I realize this.
When I finally see a break in the weather,
I will run.
But I will never tell.
Poems by Amanda J. Forrester have appeared or are forthcoming Collective Unrest, the Sandhill Review, and the anthology We Will Not Be Silenced: The Lived Experience of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Told Powerfully Through Poetry, Prose, Essay, and Art (Indie Blu[e] Publishing, 2018), edited by Christine E. Ray, Kindra M. Austin, Candice Louisa Daquin, and Rachel Finch. Forrester received her MFA from the University of Tampa. She serves on the executive board of YellowJacket Press and snuggles with her fur babies when she isn’t working long hours as a data analyst at Saint Leo University. Follow her on Twitter @ajforrester75.
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