Spiraling

The dishes are piling up again

overflowing from the sink across the counter, the stovetop,

the consequences of my own inaction,

but this is how it goes;

this is what slips first

every

single

time

and then school

unfinished assignments, the unfinished degree

and then the boxes —

the ones I can't collapse and get rid of because

I

am

collapsing

myself.

I don't want to know how far

down

this

spiral

goes

before

I

b

r

e

a

k,

but the ground is coming fast now.

I might be running out of time.