How to Run Downhill by Arielle Trager

Think about your career instead. Unlock your knees. Carefully drink at the movies. Sleep with your head the other way. Eat more kale. Count the minutes it takes you to remember in the morning. Belly breathe. Lose your copy of the book he recommended. Shower alone. Repeat words until you forget what they mean. It took me six minutes to remember you this morning. freckles freckles freckles freckles freckles freckles freckles. Make sure your back is perpendicular to the ground. reveal reveal reveal reveal unzip reveal reveal reveal unlock your knees reveal reveal leave. Repeat everything he said to you in a breathy high pitched voice. Hang up your racing numbers like pictures of a past life. 11 minutes. “I’ve never been in love.” Lean forward.

Arielle Trager is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University and a future high school educator. She was coach of Wesleyan’s 2014 Inter-Collegiate Slam Poetry Team, has performed at regional poetry slams in the northeast, and was featured at the Bang Said the Gun Poetry Show in London. Her work also appears in Bitterzoet Magazine.