Real problems I can handle,
simple check marks on a to-do list,
bam bam bam.
It’s the imaginary ones
hardly seeming to ever be overcome,
the film running in reverse,
a newsreel turning history around and back,
the slow-motion mess of celluloid unspooling, mounting.
It’s a mass of diamonds, how they flow
glittering to coal
their sharp edges, abrading all the way.
It’s a bloody wastebasket overflowing,
and you may see the summit,
struggle one step up,
but then you slide, slip on decaying pages,
the paper cuts, two steps back.
The custodian of this cloud
should be fired, never cleaning up,
never hanging a silver lining,
that bright and airy clime
obscured by lightning jags and rain.
I know.
Here’s a lab rat,
drug tolerance growing stronger,
brain growing weaker —
where is big pharma’s next breakthrough
when you really need it
to clear away the brain fog,
help you juggle
the perfect refrigerator magnets?
* * * * *
Happy Sunday! Today’s word is
clear
Use it in any kind of writing and then post your piece and link to me, or simply leave it in the comments below. I would love to read what you write : )
Revised 10.11.23
The Problem with Solving
Real problems I can handle
Check marks on a to-do list
Bam bam bam.
It’s the imaginary ones never taken care of
A mass of devils painted on the wall
Like film running in reverse
A newsreel turning history around and back
A slow-motion mess
Of celluloid unspooling mounting
Like a mass of diamonds
How they flow and press
Glittering coal
With sharp edges
Abrading ideas
A bloody wastebasket overflowing
Where you glimpsed the summit
Abundant answers atop the mountain peak
So you struggle up your step or two
But slip on decaying pages
Of tried solutions tossed
Paper steps and two cuts back
The custodian of my clouded mind
Never clears up the questions
Never even hangs the slim silver linings
Prospects of some breakthrough bright clear clime
All’s left obscured by lightning jags and torrent rains
I’m a lab rat
Where’s that cheese
Please maze me out of it
Or test me better drugs
To clear away the brain fog
Help me juggle out perfect order
The clean solution of refrigerator magnet clicks
My scorpion mind all hands to temples cling
Lanning Lee 