I can’t hear myself think
And that isn’t going so well
Since my ears are on the outside
And my thoughts are on the inside
Can I have a little quiet
Where my thoughts can answer themselves
As my own critic
Poking holes in arguments I won’t make
Spoiling decent thoughts with depressing logic
Fending off the punctures
Why don’t I cut myself some slack
Empty out the hopper
Sweep the mind real estate clean
Start over
With a friendlier viewpoint
After all it is my mind
Blank as it can get which doesn’t get
Near the appreciation it deserves
For neatness
Tidiness
So back away and leave room
As I toss the trash out
Tupperware the small thoughts
Shelve the larger ones in those see through bins
Label sort and stack
Turn out the light
Okay, unshoosh now
The mood has passed and the library hours are over
Open the midway
Let the carousel music start up
The lights flash and sparkle
I think it is all full circle, once again
____________
Bio
Evan Myquest, 73, lives in the foothills of the Sierras near Sacramento, CA. He has been married to his wife, Eva, for 47 years. His poetry has appeared alongside Jack Hirschman, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, Jim Carroll, and many others across the US and in Italy as well as translated and performed on video by Rome’s maestro Beppe Costa. A video documentary featuring his poetry was shown at Sacramento’s Crocker Art Museum in 2013. He worked as a budget and capital investment analyst for a major corporation for twenty years and retired to write poetry the first day he was pension eligible in 2003. In 1974, he attended the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy summer workshop taught by Damon and Kate Knight, Harlan Ellison and other writers at Michigan State University, then workshopped with writers Gene Wolfe, A.J. Budrys and George R. R. Martin and others in the Chicago Windy City Windy Writers workshop. His latest book, Cold Blue Roses is available at Amazon in print and kindle editions. His website is mmw50.com.
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