Breaking Through the Storms, Part 3
3.
Mom, I can’t talk about this anymore.
But I just want to know…
I’ve got to go.
We need to talk about it…
No we don’t –
If I don’t hang up,
I will explode.
But it is already too late.
I begin yelling at the top
Of my primal register
At my prodding mother.
I can’t handle this!
Why do I have to go through this?
—It’s so fucking awful!
To which she replies, I know,
It’s good to get your anger out.
In my tirade of knifing remarks
I spiral to the floor, smelt into sobs.
An hour later my mom’s voice is still calm.
“Don’t Make Me Talk About It,” Watercolor by Laura E. Garrard.
©️ 2025 Laura E. Garrard
Laura E. Garrard is a multiple myeloma thriver and published author living in the Northwest. Her poetry and prose have appeared in journals like The Madrona Project, Amethyst, Silver Birch, TulipTree Review, and others. Garrard has been chosen as a finalist for Bellevue Literary Review's John & Eileen Allman Prize for Poetry and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.