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Exponential

Ian Cognitō

Anxiety is a hungry monster

greedy for those moments of crisis

and consternation

yet to manifest

It sees danger that can’t yet

be seen

Looks over its shoulder

furtively, panic-stricken

for sabre-tooth tigers

and their modern-day proxies


The anxious person will know

the sky is falling at the very first sign

before anyone else can cotton on

Trouble is

no one will believe her

when the time arrives because

she has talked about it too often


Don’t they understand?


She has always, always, been preparing

for this moment

Always at-the-ready


And now

she has gotten herself to safety


While the rest of us, grasshoppers

are still at play

Creators

Ian Cognitō

Ian Cognitō

Ian Cogntiō is a queer poet from Vancouver Island, who is the author of five collections of poetry, including Animusings, Much Adieu about Nothing, and Interchange (a poetry/prose collaboration). He also co-edited an anthology on the topic of aging, Old Bones & Battered Bookends, which united poets from across BC, and beyond. From 2014 to 2020, Ian was the producer/artistic director of 15 Minutes of Infamy, a word-craft cabaret based in Nanaimo BC. In 2020, Ian established Repartee Press, an independent publisher of "user-friendly" poetry from writers from BC.

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