Rest Day
︎︎︎ Ryan D. Petersen
︎ July 30, 2025
The only man in the gym
at 3am
Wants to tell me something
But my Airpods are in
So I walk past him.
In the locker room
I take magnesium
Shower in the dark
And play white noise from my phone.
The only man in the gym
is still there.
I read his lips—
Are you dumb
or did you abduct her?
Or maybe—
Are you numb
to the Hymn of the Doctor?
But most likely—
Are you done
with the hip abductor?
In the morning
Dad makes me visit Mom in Tampa.
He snaps his fingers
Right in front of her face
Yet there’s no ripple.
At some point, she looks at me
And starts moving her mouth
Unable to form a sentence
It’s just—
muah, muah, muah
Or—
palm, palm, palm
Maybe—
bomb, bomb, bomb
at 3am
Wants to tell me something
But my Airpods are in
So I walk past him.
In the locker room
I take magnesium
Shower in the dark
And play white noise from my phone.
The only man in the gym
is still there.
I read his lips—
Are you dumb
or did you abduct her?
Or maybe—
Are you numb
to the Hymn of the Doctor?
But most likely—
Are you done
with the hip abductor?
In the morning
Dad makes me visit Mom in Tampa.
He snaps his fingers
Right in front of her face
Yet there’s no ripple.
At some point, she looks at me
And starts moving her mouth
Unable to form a sentence
It’s just—
muah, muah, muah
Or—
palm, palm, palm
Maybe—
bomb, bomb, bomb
Ryan D. Petersen is a writer based in New York City.