Wherever I put you
you erupt in explosions of sound
You are a Tower of Babel
oblivious (or indifferent) to the distraction you are.
The constant cries sound like
See me! me! me!
It’d be nice if you looked at others for a while,
perhaps they need to be seen, too.
In the early morning
the view is clear;
we can see for miles.
As day emerges,
clouds obscure our vision,
our perspective decreases.
Clarity before obscurity.
Peace before busyness.
One to hold the other at bay.
The clouds sink
obscuring hills with billows:
silver, grey, charcoal, black.
Heavy clouds in cold air
ready to coat the highway with danger.
We gaze out our windows
wondering whether we’ll get home before
the first storm of this winter.
Creeping along, devouring everything in sight,
unsatisfied,
wrapped up in strings of your own making
wound up in yourself
chrysalis
waiting for wings.
Patience is a virtue.
You break free, stretch,
the new you quivers with discovery.
You fly, fill life with sweetness,
bring joy to those who watch you
waltz with the wind
until
you fall life-less.
The core of you crumbles,
but the breeze captures the wings left behind
and carries them,
curling and flipping
to the sky.
You bounce
You lunge
You beg
You bark
You insist we pay attention to me, me, me!
Just like a kid with ADHD*
.
.
.
*Attention Deficit Hyper-activity Disorder. ADHD makes it challenging for kids to sit still; they notice everything going on around them and so are constantly distracted. Focus becomes a huge issue. We have to use many strategies to help these kids function in school, like wobble stools (round bottom stools so they move and help fidgeters- personally I loved these at university) and private, distraction free spaces, and an aid who reminds them to work… My puppy, who is alone during the day in his kennel and therefore desperate for games when we’re home in the evening, behaves the same way!
Blocked by memory
Limited by opportunity
Afraid of mobility
Paralyzed by stupidity?
Freedom to choose badly
Freedom to bully
Freedom is a power to manipulate evilly
Two and two is four
prove freedom is slavery.
Around and around you go
bursting out of the ether
leaping from between my lips.
I fight to contain you
You fight for your freedom
with musical slips.
.
.
.
I am soloing a number in our local production of Mary Poppins, so the tune has filled my brain and bursts out of me at unexpected moments. I think it’s starting to alarm people, though I try to do it only in empty rooms and halls! 
Curtain rises* a week from today! (Eeek!)
*(Well, it would if our curtain could actually do that).
Head
hits
brick
wall.
Head
hits
brick
wall.
Head
hits
brick
wall.
Head
hits
brick
wall.
Brick
wall
impacts
head.
Your desperation
leads me to exasperation
How many times do I tell you?
How many times did I tell you?
How many times will I tell you?
Too many.
Once more.
If you do it when you’re asked
Begin when assigned the task
You will not be desperate
and I will not exasperate.
Shawn L. Bird 