they call it 
a-gora-phobia
 
when you’ve had enough
of the anxiety and panic
 
the world brings
 
when you’d rather lie in bed
with the shades pulled 
and the lights off
 
than go to the grocery store
 
when you’d rather open 
a 2011 Tempranillo
and watch TV
 
than get a good walk in 
 
doesn’t matter
 
the air quality is terrible
from all those fires anyway
not to mention the tree pollen
and the cars that swerve and swarm
like hornets and the homeless
that just walk right up to you 
and the clubs and restaurants
crowded with young people
all louder
stupider 
and more violent 
than ever before
 
doesn’t matter
 
there’s nothing worth buying
no one worth meeting 
nothing worth saying
anyway
 
only
that they call it
a-gora-phobia
 
and I call it 
Wed-nes-day 

Nathaniel Sverlow is a freelance writer of poetry and prose and founding editor of the online blog thoughts from a 3-dollar typer. He currently resides in the Sacramento area with three cats, one incredibly supportive wife, and his young son. His previous publishing credits include Typehouse Literary Magazine, Black Fox Literary Magazine, The Fiction Pool, Squawk Back, and Literary Orphans. He is currently finishing his first poetry compilation, The Blue Flame of My Beating Heart, set to release later this year.