I Knew I Was Getting Better

when I ordered my own food

for the first time, barely

stumbled over

no onions, please

when my chest collapsed

like Giles Corey    more weight

                                    more weight

but still alive. I even

asked for more coffee and he

brought it,

                        more weight

            hard as rock

didn’t laugh

at me, didn’t say no

like I convinced myself

he would.

Bri Griffith earned a BA in Creative Writing from Carlow University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she emceed the Red Dog Reading Series. She's the winner of the 2018 Glass Mountain Poetry & Prose Contest, and recipient of the 2018 Marilyn P. Donnelly Award for Excellence in Poetry. Griffith is a first year MFA student in Poetry and Teaching Assistant at Florida International University.