some days it just feels like this
the indeterminable end -
chugging along, task after task,
my hand cut from the chicken wire,
Glass in my feet from the pan that exploded
my heart struggling to keep hope
my mind circling over and over
my dad has cancer - it isn't going away
my husband is still job seeking
my kids each have their own issues,
trying to be children and adults at the same time
and I feel like the only thing keeping me sane
is the constancy of chugging through chores
over and over again - wiping, folding, putting away
feed the dogs, feed the chickens, shovel the manure

And I fall asleep alone
entrenched in this shell I crawled into