Operating Instructions for the Day After Your Best Friend Tells You He Supports Genocide by Jané Dowd | One Poem Only

One Poem Only · Mar 16, 2026 · 2m

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Operating Instructions for the Day After Your Best Friend Tells You He Supports Genocide

Jané Dowd

Upon waking: breathe deep.

Savour the shimmer of momentary freedom,

lack of memory and regret.

Surround yourself with three dogs:

sentinels; triumvirate.

Check the curtain crack for signs of dawn.

When the child stirs, relish her aliveness.

As the small ghosts arise in protest,

cup their faces in your bloody hands,

whisper the useless lament:

I am sorry. -And again:

I am…