Uprising

Chris Ellery

July 5, 2026

When the dream 

that you believed in and trusted

turns into a whirlpool, 

you can begin to awaken.

Instinct will command you 

to kick and thrash against the spinning, 

to save your body as it is, 

your life as you would have it. 

But the water wants to change you. 

Let it take you under. 

The bottom is the real ground

of your dreaming. Only in the drowning 

can you find yourself 

and a crew of able companions 

bearing the names of every virtue, 

worthy of a great uprising.

Chris Ellery of San Angelo is the author of six collections of poetry, most recently One Like Silence. He is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the Texas Association of Creative Writers.