Otherhood

D. A. Powell

I spent a long time preparing to be an other. 

 Evening classes at the church in the basement 

 with my partner (he wanted to be an other too) 

 panting on the floor. Breathe. Breathe. 

 We didn't fit in with the other others. 

 But we wanted to be others so we did 

 what the other experts told us. You'll be good 

 as others. Trust your natural othering instinct. 

 My other instinct was to flee. Somehow 

 I managed to be a good other, a model 

 other the others could point at and say 

 that's what an other should do. That's how 

 an other should be. I helped other others 

 other along the way. A kind of other support. 

 But I was never cut out to be an other. 

 That's the thing. I do not think other 

 well. Some others are just good at it. 

 Other others, like me, should just leave 

 it to others, and let the others take charge. 

 Who do I look like anyway. Your other.