Trauma Recognized

As if I were reminded of a dream
I had, by simple movement on the day
that followed, or when random postures seem
informative, by showing me the way
I must have torqued to earn an injury
not catastrophic but by age induced,
travails that you last week described to me
have struck a chord. Old memory is loosed.

As you endure and struggle with the cause
your teen presents, I vibrate like a drum.
I hear your agony; I feel the claws
of impotence and anxious worry. From
three decades plus, I get it. I’m surprised
to comprehend how I was traumatized.

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Sitting

I wonder why I’m feeling bored today –
not into books (I’m reading two), or you,
disinterested in what they have to say
whom I respect and love. No point of view
is snagging my attention, and no play
invites me to engage in what I do
(by choice) most every morning. So I sit,
receptive to learn what’s appropriate.

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Back and Forth

The final day of Twenty Twenty-four
the weather here was sunny, crisp, and clear.
My house was sound, my body not too sore –
repair and restoration work was near.
My doors and windows would not rot. My fear
of knee arthritis was abating fast.
My place and I seemed able for the year
ahead, as much as for the one just passed.

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Blanket Yoga

It felt so fine I didn’t mind at all
the effort spent to nurture knee and spine,
which took to twinging after that near-fall.
It felt so fine.

I lavished 40 minutes to entwine
my arms in hug and let my sinews sprawl.
My breathing seemed to make my skull-space shine.

Two blankets warmed. With feet against the wall,
some anti-gravity relief was mine.
The comfort sent my senses into thrall,
it felt so fine.

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Increments of Luck

A light that has no purpose I can see,
a signal that provides no fact to me,
igniting nothing periodically,
for 30 days so far (historically),
offed after 4, today.

A Wordle I each morning set to break,
with guesses that try vowels, so I take
an average 4 attempts, for logic’s sake,
just happened on my starting word, to make
me win in 1, today.

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A Sinister Report

The left knee says it needs a rest at least,
complaining constantly the last 3 days.
It’s often tentative, but pain’s increased
of late – if fortunate, it’s just a phase
to be repaired by time and lazy ways.
The middle toe I stubbed is purple, sore,
and left, from favoring that knee. Age flays
indeed, but I’m aboard and wanting more.

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Triggering

I used to justify addictive lapse
by focusing on some convenient stress:
obnoxious kids; a thankless job perhaps;
an obstacle to peace or happiness.
The fact is, if I wanted to indulge
in too much food, or pot, or nicotine,
excuses weren’t hiding. To divulge
the truth, external drives were never keen.

So when I see one falling back to vice,
and watch his mate accuse herself of fail-
ing to assess the triggers that entice,
I shake my head at psychobabble’s flail.
The loved one isn’t dumb – he easy found
the formula for quicksand, where he drowned.

Posted in Behavior Modification, Cognition, Philosophy, Poetry | Tagged | 2 Comments

Thumps in the Night

The footsteps overhead last night were loud,
as if an upstairs neighbor ogre-strode.
But there’s no place above my place – endowed
I am with this old cottage. My abode
is solo-set away from stairs or road;
when someone walks my roof, there’s little sound.
Those heavy thumps were paws in hunting mode –
raccoons that scale the drainwork from the ground.

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Skidding

I skidded on the wood outside my door
that forms a boardwalk to the entry gate.
Each winter, rain makes stepping there unsure –
plant-slick and weathered. I offset my weight
avoiding falling, swerving twice. My fate
is to now to wait for what that wrench has done.
Will groin or lumbar lapse to painful state?
Oh, here’s a twinge. This aging isn’t fun…

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Left Shoes

I’ve noticed shoes on sidewalks near the street –
a pair or more for passersby to take –
admired pairs on wires flung in neat
array that maybe advertisements make
(for parties? drugs? a way to night-compete?).
But last week on a stroll, the sight keepsake
was solo footwear – men’s – two different shoes
and blocks apart. I wonder why and whose?

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