These Days Begin Early

Milton Jordan

November 8, 2022

Jumps and jerks pulsing from my left knee

shake me wide awake even earlier

than my daily two hours too soon

and my right bears far too much to reach

the borrowed walker standing against the wall,

much closer, it seemed, the night before.

Sitting now at bed’s edge and yearning 

for a more proximate urinal

I convince myself to stand and stumble

cautiously forward, reach the hand grips

and navigate the necessary steps

with only moderate discomfort.

Milton Jordan lives with Anne in Georgetown, Texas. His most recent poetry collection is A Forest for the Trees from Backroom Window Press, 2022.