troublingly, when they’re talking,
it’s usually not in my direction
and I rather like that a lot
but when it is directed at me
it’s usually nothing profound.
unaccountably, I have a lack
of response towards soulless
creatures who have zombified
their vitality
they’ve exhausted their inventiveness
opted out to conformity
over-welcomed their stay
and burnt out their last match
the apex of their days is the
sandwich they’ll have for lunch,
the power mower they ride on
in the Saturday afternoon heat,
the motor oil they use for their car,
the purchases they’ve made online
with free shipping and handling
and it’s no wonder I’ve undergone
a number of ways to elude their
temperament
making no eye contact
keeping my head down
walking really fast and
pretending to be busy
but the more you avoid them,
the more attracted they are to you
their castrated lives their wives envisioned
are so flavorless like taking a bite out of
an aspirin and they think their persistence
is stunning when it’s nothing more than
relentless and wearisome
I look out the window
feeling trapped
the day is out there
life is out there
not much life
but enough to
take a chance
and very few have the courage
to let go and break free
the little white spider crawling
up my windshield has more
courage, character, charisma
than I or the half-bred egrets
I encounter with on the daily
who knew these assortment
of words arranged in a
peculiar way would give
me the courage to go this far?
but how much further
am I willing to go?
when the world feels like a rope
you’re dangling from above
the swampland of futility
and the imbeciles circle
below like crocodiles
ready to lunge up
and snap at your
insides
I hear their idiot laughter
and their footsteps
working towards
me now
as the door closes slowly
and the light narrows
paper thin-like into
the windowless dark.
I cringe and
wait for it
to end.