I wrote this poem on February 23, 2017 (on a Tumblr blog that no longer exists). It was written in response to the endless stream of awful news about what Trump – and the people he selected – were doing.
I read “We Are In the Wrong Timeline” in episode 17 of my Words of Jen podcast.
Years later, I read this poem again on Episode 066 of Words of Jen. It was unexpectedly relevant because were were still dealing with the Trump Administration and also living through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Not sure when it happened, exactly, but things are not the same
Time moves differently now than it did before
The days and hours move so slowly from morning until night
And yet, the hours are filled with a frenzy of SO MANY THINGS
It’s all happening at once, smushed into a timespan where it doesn’t fit
I’m trying to keep up with all the shenanigans that are going on
But, some of it is slipping through my fingers and speeding away before I can find the words to pin it down in blog posts
Each day stretches itself out
How can it be only 7:00 p.m. when it feels so much later?
It’s not daylight savings time
Nothing feels right anymore – it’s all uncomfortable and stagnant
The atmosphere – the air we breathe – is heavier, pressing down upon us
Gravity has increased its strength just enough for us to feel the difference
My world is moving at a snail’s pace
How is it possible that all these awful things are happening so quickly while everything else slows to a crawl?
This isn’t how things are supposed to be
We are in the wrong timeline
We aren’t supposed to be here
Maybe we fell through a wormhole and then collectively had amnesia
We are wandering through the labyrinth, trying to figure out which talking door is lying to us and which one is telling the truth
I’ll be searching my dreams for the key, the clue, the missing pieces that can put us right again
There must be some way back
We Are In the Wrong Timeline is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites.
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