NO MIND

 

with nothing on it

no hint of what to say

the clipboard beckons

I suspect it wants to embarrass me

why does it do this?

is that a sane question?

 

in reply, I am an illusion

good for a few temporary jobs

warning people downstream of the impending

dam burst

of the long denial that has filled it

to overflowing

 

it's good for a laugh except

now the climate

everything that was once fundamental

all the good and the bad in free fall

dancing do-si-do

bright and dark visions

not necessarily so

full moon, bad mood, just wait

time capsules of past experience are leaking

authority

 

old photos especially entertaining

looking back at me straight into the lens

that gaze knowing now

everyone knows this

but most look away

time lapse looking both ways

time is do-si-do

 

the sheet fills itself with scribbles

meaning something for the moment

dancing away, prancing

the urban runner off in all directions at once

 

there were days that heard of 3 cents a word

write fast

horror or science pretense

that might do for others

that never once disturbed this pen unemployed

in usefulness

 

only to record a swiftly disappearing route

that others might see the streak

somehow familiar

just out the corner of one eye

brief evidence of some similar insanity

not to look the other way

sanity or insanity

do-si-do

 

until the words fade away

looking right into the lens