Once as a child
Chasing my older brother
In what I thought was a game
He caught his thumb in the door as I closed it.
I did not realize he was screaming to open the door.
I thought we were still playing.
As a result,
He lost his thumb nail
And it took months for it to grow back.
Now whenever I look at my partially torn thumb nail
I can see his face through the door window.
Covering up.
No blemishes to see.
Everything must be perfect.
To see beneath is a sin.
So colour upon colour.
Layer upon layer.
Soon I will be unrecognizable.
Eyelids want to close.
Heavy is how they feel.
Sleep is calling.
Fight against it
Or let it win?
Sometimes neither choice is a good one.
It is a memory game.
You forget if you don’t use it.
Sometimes it becomes a habit.
Then all it takes is one day where thinking is required
And the password is gone.
Hide your book with them in it.
Just try to remember where you left that.
Stuffed and sitting
Politely looking
Waiting for your forever home.
I hope the little ones treat you well.
Promises broken
mean
they won’t believe you
the next time.
Consequences follow the actions.
One hurdle remains.
Past that new ones appear.
Those get cleared.
Only to more have popped up.
They are never ending.
You follow the rules
and get punished for following them.
The elephant is in the room.
Wolves hide among the sheep.
The devil is in the details.
Heaven calls but answers for no one.
The mirror only reflects the facts.
I am a pimple on society’s bum.
What I see is progress.
What she sees is decline.
I know patience is the key.
She thinks discipline
More discipline, not patience is needed.
Time will tell.
When things are going well.
My mind turns against me.
It whispers horrible things to me.
What if’s that are mostly likely not true.
Still, until it is proven wrong
Those thoughts continue.
It is hard to have things go well in my life.
Even if I just try to live each day as they come.
Saturn's Premier Poet 