“worn out a way of being”

—-Jim Harrison

1)

Not that they went away,

my meds muted most,

and slowed the pace

to a lachrymose flagellation,

from relentless and revisionist

jump cuts, reshuffled

and reconnected,

in ever new and familiar

kaleidoscopic tropes.

2)

I read once twenty-five percent,

or more, of people have no voices

talking to each other,

no inner voice to sound

the depths of their day.
“How do they think?” my students asked

when I told them. “I wouldn’t know:”

I sighed, “strangely, I guess.”

“How lonely,” one girl said to herself.

3)

Almost four in the morning,

the dogs insist on going out.

I’m tired and insist on telling

myself that I am tired. I want

to make a list of all the things

I’m tired of, finally coming

to a consensus: I’ve worn out

a way of being, a path carved

in repetitive quiet conversations.

(October 7, 2024)