GLORIA G. MURRAY

FIVE AM ANXIETY

at five am
to ease my anxiety
I make tea
sit in the velour recliner
turn on cable TV
catch the weather
the ads for flat abs
and wrinkle free skin
at seventy
and the evangelists
who offer us Jesus
before we’ve even had
breakfast

then scribble out
a poem
on the back
of a grocery list
try to remember
my dream
for my next therapy
appointment

and by now
the sun and the world
are up
the world
I grab on to
like a train I almost miss
until a caring commuter
sees me waving
frantically
and holds open
the door because
dammit
I still need
to get
on

Gloria's work has appeared in many literary journals, including CQ Quarterly, Poet's Guild Journal, Blue Unicorn, The Pittsburgh Quarterly, Pearl, and others. She has received several awards for poetry and has published two chapbooks, "Walking on Eggshells" and "The Tasting of Cherries."