You Better Be Lightning (Button Poetry)

by Andrea Gibson

Fire my inner critic, or at least demote it to part time.

Sometimes grief is the fastest route to truth.

I read that people scream when they are in pain because screaming actually lessens the pain— anyone who asks you to hold your tongue is asking you to hold the heaviest thing in the galaxy.

Why are the keys to our future in the hands of those who have the longest commutes from their heads to their hearts?

GOOD GRIEF Let your heart break so your spirit doesn’t.

WELLNESS CHECK In any moment, on any given day, I can measure my wellness by this question: Is my attention on loving, or is my attention on who isn’t loving me?

dreams are never really gone if someone’s dreaming with you.

everyone loved butterflies, but I trusted the caterpillars more. I trusted the ones who knew they were not done growing.

Right before I died, I thought, In the afterlife, I’ll apply for a job at a mistake factory. They’ll be awed by my résumé. If anything, I’m overqualified.