OctPoWriMo 29

Thinking about all the things
I could have thought about
All this time if that big something
Had not been standing in the way

All the moments that might not
Have slipped through my fingers
All the images I could have captured
Rather than these perfunctory sentences

Somehow illuminating lethargic ennui
Which brings me back to my life in grad school
When avoiding responsibility became
An art I could put my name to

How many decades this year has been
How many lifetimes these years have taken
How many volumes we could have read
Rather than avoiding the nonfiction bestsellers

How much the attention economy
Keeps asking for your clicks
Apparently now we are judging people
By the contents of their refrigerators

It would be absurd if it weren’t so tragic
These new bottoms keep bottoming out
I wish I could say I can see things improving
But that is just a thought I cannot bear to think

Until we have some idea what we’re talking about