Be Grateful

by Aleah Dye

I am convenient when I am unhappy.

I am a checklist waiting for my tick—

they can absolve their guilt

when they give me advice

they want to hear

but if they cared enough

to know me

would know doesn’t work for me.

Drink more water!

Get more sleep!

Stop caring what other people think!

Clean hands now ready to lie

next to their clean bodies

in their perfectly made

white beds.

I have done a lot today,

they’ll say to themselves