The Croning

[handful_ofdust]

I keep waking up covered in cold sweat...no, seriously; literally soaked in it, the pillow I often sleep hugging these days sodden enough I can't stand having it near me anymore, so I dump it on the floor next to the bed to dry out. The sleep itself is crap-level, full of ache and tooth-grinding. The other night I surfaced around 4:00 AM to discover that the back of my neck was stinging painfully, wet and rashy. I troweled Kids' Polysporin into it like I was grouting tile, which stopped it itching and let me go back to sleep, and today I've switched to Gold Bond powder for eczema relief, which works pretty well on the last lingering traces of yeast between my breasts. And I definitely have not had a period worth the name since sometime around Christmas, so I should probably schedule a Zoom call with my doctor about menopause, no longer peri-, but the real thing. I'm not sure what she can do for me, though. I fear not much, thus leaving me saddled with intermittent exhaustion, cotton-wrapped brainpower and no work ethic to speak of.

Fucking anyhow: I need to get back to the grind, ASAP. Spent at least a month thinking, slllloooowly. I have some good ideas and some blocks of prose. I also have deadlines that need to be met. This is how it goes; stand by.