Scribbled Thoughts

Hire a comfort bot

to occupy their needs

so you can slip away

to other tasks,

other adventures,

and begin to forget

the ones who still need you,

who still wait

for a moment of contentment

that re-centers their world.

Calculate to work out

a living,

understand consequences

of indulgence

and dream of future luxuries.

Scrabble for extra work

you’re too exhausted for,

but ignore aches

and keep imagining

a brief time

you can leave it all behind

if you just keep going.

Enter the space

but continue your life,

not noticing those already there,

waiting to be acknowledged

and panicking they are invisible.

Only when they give up

do you turn to greet them.

The smallest is the heaviest,

forcing its way through

to the bottom

and exposing larger problems

to the surface,

bouncing them up

until they overflow

and end your

successful streak.

Chop, chisel, simmer,

reduce to produce

and create something new

to make your day

worth it.

Update my week,

control my movements

so I can plot the in-between.

Leaving me in limbo

is stripping any last

free-will away.

Perhaps that’s the plan,

to make us less than human

one more.

Command technology

to produce sound

while you stare

at a tree’s carcass

and try to imagine

melting one form into another,

then molding it to a more

pleasing sight.

How does it feel,

what movements are needed,

and how can you convey this

to someone even more clueless

than you.

How do you make them believe.

Five hundred in a row

to weave words

into meaning,

try to inspire

try to exhume feelings

for better health

and peace of mind.

Days in succession,

each goal achieved,

continue the trend

and count the growing

chances to understand.

Prepare to be watched

and judged

for a role you’ve been

fulfilling for years

but is finally being

acknowledged.

Discover the joys of

the beginning,

relearning,

and feeling the thrill

you’ll be able to

list your skills

and pronounce your

profession in the

present tense.

Veiled through a fog

that restricts actions

but not demand,

impatient ghosts

scream into an aching head

watching at the collapse

and scolding all as useless.