i’m suddenly in a ****** up situation
the patient is brought in tripping
the word is he took peytote
stopped his car, got out and proclaimed himself god
now he resides in the ER
he’d been tied to the cot but his nurse let him loose
"there’s no doctor’s order, i can’t restrain him"
strict regulations
he crawls out of bed and wobbles unsteadily down the hall
i get in front of him to block and redirect
but he’s not going for it
which puts me in an uncool position
he could start swinging on me
and he’s a big fella in good shape
if i respond he could fall and hurt himself
either way, i’m *******
i push him back into his crib
and strap him up anyway
a nurse who knows what she’s doing
says she’ll get a doctor’s order for restraints
once in bed, the guy is docile
"you want some ******?" he offers politely
"no thanks," i say
"i’m working"

admiring of the ladies
cordial to the fellas
dismissive of the management
indifferent to the work
on line for the coffee

what the world chooses
to reveal about itself
to any individual
is highly selective
idiosyncratic
you might call it a tease

if you decide to only worry
about things you can change
and when you analyze it
that’s not much
your worries shrink drastically
goodbye weather
goodbye world news
goodbye *******
goodbye fate

i can't say i've had infinite pleasure
but i've had pleasure an infinite number of times
and it does add up

the problem with aging
is that most things
that were inspiring in youth
are not relevant anymore
and the things that are relevant
are not very inspiring
pop music, for instance
yuengling, nursing students
jumping off a bridge
to reach the honkytonk downriver
they've lost their torque
gears are slipping in every direction
mayhem and pandemonium lose their spark
when they're not a choice
but an inevitability

she does the crossword puzzle
with such skill and intensity
it MUST cross over to other dimensions
she’s saving countless lives
on some transfigured planet
she has to be