JULIE ANN STEVENS

It’s never just one thing that makes the door fall off the hinges —

And yet.

It usually is one thing —

More than  others —

That had you listened to it when it  —

Pinged you in the gut, blocked the alleyway, raised its hand and commanded —

Yo!  Halt! 

Gehen Sie nicht weiter!!!

Had you only listened and let yourself hear—

“If I do nothing — if I say nothing — it will only be a matter of time before this knocks me out cold and leaves me for dead —”

Well, perhaps I would not be struggling to breathe now, arms and legs pinned beneath the rubble —

Options for my next moves — extremely limited —

Narrowed and impaired.

But thankfully, there are still a few more moves to make from this position.

And I’m not done yet. 

Yeah —

And how.