Ruin by Jean Ryan

It can start early,
through no fault of your own.
Someone tampers with you
and from that time on
you will never look at a father
without suspicion, will never
see children playing without
wondering: which ones?
And then there’s plain old bad luck—
illness and accidents and terrible timing,
the steady toll of being alive;
along with the harm you do to yourself
as you move through your mapless days:
detours, bargains, lapsed resolutions.

Still your heart breaks for the world
and doesn't care that you wake in ruins
to see what can be salvaged.



Jean Ryan, a native Vermonter, lives in coastal Alabama. Her writing has appeared in many journals and anthologies. Her debut collection of short stories, Survival Skills, was published by Ashland Creek Press and short-listed for a Lambda Literary Award. Lovers and Loners is her second story collection. She has also published a novel, Lost Sister, and a book of nature essays, Strange Company. Her first poetry collection, A Day Like This, will be published in May 2024 by Kelsay Books. https://jean-ryan.com/