I<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Groping back to bed after a piss.<\/span>\u00a0 Hyena\u2019s laughter from the sticky floor.<\/span>\u00a0 II<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Birds singing notes too pretty to scream.<\/span>\u00a0 Regret walks me to a hungover mirror.<\/span>\u00a0 III<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> That day was\u00a0<\/span>fifty two<\/span>\u00a0Sundays ago,<\/span>\u00a0 All at once and extending into now<\/span>\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by\u00a0 Andrew Courtney I\u00a0 Groping back to bed after a piss.\u00a0Darker than the bile of my liver.\u00a0Arms reaching, searching for an anchor.\u00a0I stumble, hitting rock bottom again.\u00a0\u00a0 Hyena\u2019s laughter from the sticky floor.\u00a0Somehow the black void spins\u00a0spins\u00a0spins,\u00a0An orbit without planets or moons or stars.\u00a0I think I\u2019ll sleep in this bed of whiskey stains.\u00a0 II\u00a0 Birds Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-118","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":549,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/118\/revisions\/549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/15-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/span>Darker than the bile of my liver.<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>Arms reaching, searching for an anchor.<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>I stumble, hitting rock bottom again.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>
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<\/span>Somehow the black void spins\u00a0<\/span>spins<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>spins<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>An orbit without planets or moons or stars.<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>I think I\u2019ll sleep in this bed of whiskey stains.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>
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<\/span>Afternoon sun on my walls, uninvited.<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>The \u201croutine\u201d begins \u2013 stand up, laugh, sigh.<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>I drink water to fill the dry canyons of my veins.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>But this water keeps me thirsty, again.<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>I thirst and I drink, I\u00a0<\/span>drink<\/span>\u00a0and I thirst.<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>Until the thirst is what\u2019s drinking me<\/span>
<\/span>Quicker than last night\u2019s double triple shot.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>
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<\/span>A crying stranger, begging for agency.<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>Familiar stranger in a familiar image<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>Except for the Word, written in the corner:<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>John 4:13-14<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>
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<\/span>When knees collapsed on carpet with purpose.<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>Repentance is the salt in my tears.<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>Forgiveness is the smile beneath them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>
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<\/span>Death and thirst faded, obliterated.<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>A spring welled up in me as I began<\/span>\u00a0
<\/span>Drinking the overflowing living water.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>
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