Telemachus has got me thinking:

Telemachus has got me thinking:

how can I plan my world in a sane 

and thoughtful way?*

  Try lying flat, shirtless, 

on linoleum kitchen tile, and see the spin 

of long-dead skin cells vortex in meaningless 

tornadoes around the room.

    Or, crack a piece

of ice from the pimpled tray, then center it 

(just right) beneath the coiled metal beak

of the kitchen sink—

                  with thumb and finger, twist 

the left-hand knob and watch the creature drool 

its hot saliva, burrowing inside

as if it’s seeking something.

Try drawing O’s 

with thick-tipped pens—

blue fatboy sharpies work best:

observe the way they shrink like light-filled pupils, 

collapse like weekend plans or Spring-break love. 

If things are really bad, try Tylenol. 

There are many ways to cope. 

*Fagles, Robert: The Odyssey, p. 383, ll.260.