While Crawling Toward the Finish

He had been in a deep dream, searching for a lost puppy When the clanging alarm startled him to reality The clear images fading like a burning photograph Then, a desperate sense of unrecoverable loss Lying on a couch, the beacon clock, clicking his heartbeat With no desire in facing the awaiting mundane day His aching back, reminds him of a night of stooped typing And his dry mouth, of the many vodka inspirations Opening his eyes, the room is semi aglow with dawn Turning, he meets the scrutinizing eyes of porcelain frogs Sliding roughly to a difficult sitting arrangement Reaching for a bottle of room temperature water His tongue dampened, he leans back to remember the reason Why did he need to be shaken from his unconscious state? Work, yes, that essential means to maintain his existence Would he be teaching high school mathematics, English, or science? Rising to his feet and in route the coffee maker Now noticing the radio playing in the milieu Earthquake, fire, shootings, political scandal, and weather The essentials for the complex human news equation Leaning over a large bed, he kisses his sleeping wife Patting the dog’s head, continuing to the master’s bath Later, while adjusting his suspenders, his wife reminds Lunch is in the refrigerator, don’t forget the trash On the short commute, through a cold northwest drizzling rain He evaluates his current role as middle aged Spending each day killing time, while crawling toward the finish In his castle of souvenirs and faded memories Mowing an endless lawn and shoveling tons of compost The whisper of worry in his ears, about debt and health Watching his wife grow old and pets slowly age until death He laughs, at what seems like, the pure senselessness of it all During his day, he continues to ponder while teaching Looking into the young faces of his eager students They are filled with the exciting beginning of new lives Far from comprehending the classic middle aged crisis In the evening, within the walls of his cozy cave The television news professing the Armageddon His loving wife sleeping off dinner in her recliner He freshens his drink and is silently thankful for her © Copyrights G. Jones 2008