ISSUE V
Wheeler Light
Sonnet Paying Attention to Pain
When all this began, I tracked
his forgetting—took notes
like watching paint become wet again
before slipping from the wall
or a yard of green grass retract
back inside itself. Phone calls
close listened, stenographer
in my brain read the script back
after. Years ago, I injured my back
and took medication for the pain.
On occasion, I’d skip a dose
just to know it was still bad or how bad
it was. How to be sad about the truth: I ask
my father who I am. Then I ask him again.
Wheeler Light (he/him) is an MFA candidate at University of Virginia and lives in Charlottesville, VA. He is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in HAD, The Penn Review, and Rattle, among other publications. He is the author of Blue Means Snow (Bottlecap Press 2018) and Hometown Onomastics (Pitymilk 2019). You can find his work at www.wheelerlight.net.