enough to survive

My parents are arguing 

in the kitchen again 

and it’s all my fault. 

If I hadn’t moved the TV remote, 

then none of this would be happening. 

I lay the remote down on the table, 

in the same place as before, 

but it doesn’t work. 

They’re still arguing. 

In fact, it’s getting worse. 

I hear Dad grabbing a knife. 

I hear Mum scream. 

She’s running as fast as she can 

towards a door she’ll never reach, 

her legs slow and heavy, like a nightmare 

she can’t wake up from. I try again, 

holding the remote down on the table, 

this time imagining the room how it was before, 

the cartoon worlds waiting for me on the other side; 

X-men, Looney Tunes, The Simpsons, 

maybe this will be enough to survive. 

Billie J Daniel is a writer, artist and educator based in London, from a working-class background. He graduated from Central Saint Martins with a degree in Fine Art. In his time away from writing, he likes to go birding with his partner, play board games with his friends, and analyse his favourite sport, boxing. His poems explore the nature of reality, love, anxiety, and trauma, and have been published or are forthcoming in HAD, The Bulb Region, BULL, Plague Circus Press, 50-word stories, Maudlin House Press, Shadow and Sax, Blood + Honey Lit, and others. His debut pamphlet Your Life An Event That Has Already Happened is coming out with Shadow & Sax Press in 2026. Discover more online: www.billiejdaniel.com and on Instagram @billiejdaniel