In the throes of
cost-benefit
analysis paralysis,
I change my mind.
Give me a nudge,
in the right direction,
just enough to budge,
and overcome the friction.
Pivot after pivot,
like I’m double-jointed,
but I’m too rigid
to be a contortionist.
In the midst of
figuring it all out,
I think twice.
I’ll come around again,
as I move along the bend.
In a moment of clarity I ask,
is this just how it is
forever, then?
I’ve begun to understand myself,
then I thought better of it.
It was a bad time
to reflect
on what I should have written,
on the world’s last stack of sticky notes.
I ran my thumb over it,
to breathe life,
into my work.
Poorly-drawn, simplistic figures
walked to and fro,
and told each other
sophomoric jokes
until the cardboard showed.
“I could have mapped-out
my every action
months in advance,
or remembered to put on pants,
instead of making stick figures dance.”
I closed the flip book,
and rest it face-down on my desk
ashamed.
It’s all fun and games,
until fun and games interfere
with your daily life.
Needing a chuckle,
I opened it again
to repeat the cartoon anew.
Time well-spent, I say.
The File Pile 