What can you do now to prepare?

The real test will come When you haven't studied, When you're standing naked in the snow, When your legs are tired, and the hill is steeper Than you've ever climbed before. The test will come When you haven't slept for days, When you look around, and the friends and family who once surrounded you have vanished into nothingness. The test will come When peace of mind eludes you. What can you do now to prepare For that inevitable day?

Continue

Stay in the room a little longer.

Let's walk together →← Tangled up inside

Your reading record

Checking who has held this poem...

Part of your record in the archive.

Your shelf

Keep this one close.

Saved on this device. Sign in below to keep it across devices.

Reader shelf

Share this poem

Send the line onward, save the story image, or pass the poem to someone who needs it.

Share on XPinterest image

If this poem stayed with you, the next one will find you.

A quieter way to stay close to the work. One poem at a time.

.newsletter-js-form{display:none !important;}

Substack Instagram

Listening room

Hear the poem in one breath.

A studio reading for the archive, voiced with care and restraint.

Studio reading

What can you do now to prepare?0:00 / 0:34

Short film for this poem

Watch the poem move.

Some pieces also live in motion. This film belongs to the same poem, not as a replacement for the page, but as another way into it.

What can you do now to prepare?

Stay in the room a little longer.

If this poem stayed with you, the next one will find you.

Hear the poem in one breath.

Watch the poem move.

A way further in

Stay in the archive a little longer.

Notes for Collection No. 27

The reading room