a ‘to-do’ list that includes anxiety (out of habit)

i’m here in a swell of memory
a synaptic dance that only i can know
what mistakes are stained on my clothes
what errors cracked in my teeth
the lines that draw maps to my age—

here i come again. another day is
just a container, invented
by the turn of the Earth, the proof
of life: a meal, a yawn, a blink
what could i do differently, anyway—

what i could dare myself to do
beside my coffee and toast, is here
a ‘to-do’ list that includes anxiety
(out of habit) and words
what i give myself to daily—

there is nothing to apologize for
when are staring into the eyes of time
and peering back to yourself (or, myself)
go wildly! and taste that texture of life, one
living tongue against such very real teeth.