Raleigh Review
501(c)(3) Nonprofit
EIN: 27-2644341
ISSN: 2169-3943
Recovery Math
by Kaveh Akbar
yes of course I am grateful even if
I don’t run around telling everyone like
some hyperactive monkey
I am busy teaching my bones to hold
a new person such things take time here are the steps
I have taken (one) placed my tongue on a scale (two) distrusted
the reading (three) filled a mason jar with
bourbon (four) waited for it to apologize (five)
gave up waiting (six) covered my hands and
knees in paint so I could (seven) crawl around
my floor painting the word humility over
and over (eight) scrubbed the floor which
wasn’t actually mine sorry sorry (nine)
allowed my lungs to inflate fully
for the first time in a decade (ten) took
time to notice how effortlessly my own
body pleased me (eleven) realized
I could repeat these steps until the sun’s
death or mine (twelve) came to believe
those would be separate events