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.
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.
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.
Old blazer.
I reach into the pocket:
A piece of plastic wrapper and a hole.
While pristine on the outside,
Both sides within are eaten through.
Instantly,
the ghost of an old dog is in the room with me,
the metronome of his tail slowly waving
while he looks away
to hide the twinkle in his eye.
Deadlines
Frantic writers
Paper piles
Late work
Term tests
Blurry eyes
Tabulating
Check marks
Sore butt
Report card time.
Shawn L. Bird 