This Will Be Your Fortune Long After I Can Tell You

By Chloe N. Clark

It's #tbt! Enjoy this great one from SWWIM Every Day's archives!

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Today, someone I love told me
a joke. It wasn’t even that funny
but I laughed, let the sound fill my mouth
until it spilled out, made my lungs ache
with the push push of air
until even my bones hurt. Today,
one of my students told me to have
a lovely day, not even just a good
one, but a lovely one. I can imagine
that as a blessing, though the air was
cold and the sky was gray and I’ve been
holding a sense of dread under my skin
for days, no weeks, no I’ve been holding 
it there for years. Today, I worked out
until my muscles tingled under my skin, 
today I laid on the floor like this,
closed my eyes, and it was the closest feeling
to flying I might ever get. Today, I still
said “might” about impossible things. Today,
a friend and I made plans for the future and 
the world felt like something I could hold
in the palm of my hand. Today, no one I loved
died. Today, I woke up breathing. Today,
I thought how much I wanted to give you
this day. Today, if I could, I’d push it
into your hands, say, here, here, here,
I’m here, you’re here. Today is going
to be good.

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Chloe N. Clark is the author of Collective Gravities, Patterns of Orbit, Escaping the Body, and more. Her short story collection, Every Galaxy Is a Circle, is forthcoming from JackLeg Press.

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• 12/12 / Poetry Reading and Conversation with visiting poet-in-residence Nicole Cooley + local writer Caroline Cabrera / The Gallery at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7-8:30 pm EST / Free

• One workshop remains in our Workshop Series--SWWIM Lessons: From Prompt to Placement: “Surfing Submittable with Jen Karetnick – Keeping your head above water in the poetry submissions process” on 12/10 (register here). Price: $80/workshop. Time: 7:00–9:00 PM (EST). Where: Zoom.

• Note: SWWIM Every Day is now accepting poetry translations for publication consideration. Please see swwim.org/submit for the full guidelines.

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