Day 671

What you miss right now
are the simple struggles
you had at school: the exams
you weren’t prepared for, the papers
you sat up writing all night
and still couldn’t finish. The professors
who didn’t explain. What you miss
is what you did from hour to hour,
the ordinary structure of the day,
the simple progression of tasks and meals.
You wake, dizzy from hunger. Stumble
out of the tent to see the sky. The sun’s
position tells you the time. Around you,
the ones who are left still sleep. You count
them silently, count the number of days
since you’ve been here, do
one more morning,
the ravaged mathematics of survival.