Drowning Not Waving

paperclip pricks kill

tiny daily wounds fester

follow random

natural patterns

of swarms of ants and bees

lemmings and their

suicide trajectories:

dark puffy dots cover

the cold surface of the water

how lovely to meet a cool and quiet end.

but what if

that sought after

peace is only the portal

to a parallel world

with the same absurd day-to-day

the same stupid people with the same stupid

jokes and higher degrees and fancy

wooden salt and pepper shakers

receding hairlines extending bellies

popping out the same

smelly drooly mottled babies

shitting and sucking and crying

to be held

tight smiles masquerade as

happiness, fearful mediocrity
spews toxic purple fumes

as it burns, warms toes

feeds institutions and marriages

tuition, therapy, plastic surgery

away from that communal fire
a brief yearning,

not for dreams deferred,

but memories of what

dreams might have been
for what or why

© Jane Park