sometimes to
move forward
you have to
look back
i looked back
revisited
the past
all my old
thoughts
chronologically
it would appear
i've been writing down
in line breaks and stanzas
the godforsaken
dramatic **** in my head
and calling it poetry
for a solid
ten years now
ten?
really, ten?
yet i checked
and last year
i wrote exactly
four poems
the year before
six.
ten?
only ten?
and this is the
fourth for
this year
and i know
because i can feel
the words i didn't
allow myself
still rattling around
i need
to get
them
out
a set of maracas
constant cha cha
in the background
trying to pinpoint
the moment of
nostalgia
i can feel it
it was
definitely
ten
i can't salsa
dance to
my own
failure
so here i am
and i'm wondering
what if
i tried
one
just one
poem a day
it doesn't have to
be like this it can be
freeform
it can be
proper
it can be
anything
ten to one
leave the
half dozen
to the others
it just needs to
be
i just need to
be
can i commit
myself to
one
until the end of the year?
copyright 9/7/22 by b. e. mccomb