My Pillow

i have a new pillow. it is big and soft and protects my back. i am a mess. weeks of therapy and stretching have lrft me sore and defeated.
i carry my pillow everywhere. i want all the sympathy you can spare. i am too disillusioned to hope for improvement. so i just hug my pillow and use it as a cushion. i feel so vulnerable, like i can be mugged any time. i beg for traction.i hate the word sciatica.
please take the knife out of my back.

Pumpkin Riot

what causes a stampeding riot at a pumpkin festival? drunk college students. what could have triggered it? rage at overripe pumpkins? did police use riot asparagus to quell it?
this is what happens when people go off their gluten free diet. is being hit with pumpkin fragments actionable?
will this catch on at colleges? cucumber bashing, yam stabbings, radish gouging, lasagna lashing. a good riot clears the sinuses and burns calories.

Prickly

my lead character in my novel will not come out of his room. he does not like his name-- Willis. i  think it is a perfectly good name. other writers have used it.
he also will not work weekends or holidays. Columbus Day just passed and he barricaded himself inside.
i have offered him half days on Friday, but he will not cooperate. i want to replace him, but none of the other characters are as interesting. i guess that is on me. i may have to put  aside the project and start a poem.
and you thought writing was easy.                          

The Chew

this is well produced, fast paced, fun and informative. the five regulars are charismatic and terrific cooks. they get to eat all this food every day. good guests, bright decor, perfect for mid afternoon. you can get all their recipes on their website.
Carla Hall, one of the regulars, looks like no one else on TV. there are cute q and a sessions and theme shows. a breezy, informal hour .

Beach Town

so quiet in off season
no traffic
no pedestrians
no cat fights
hiding cops
people make eye contact
still lots of green foliage in October
parking spots all over
nights are silent
adults on bikes headed to beach
no cooking smells
ants are sneaky
more smiling per capita

Poem Blizzard

According to the reference librarian there are about 375000 poems written in English every week. To honor these poets Ifeel like Imust read every one of them.
I am falling behind. This is going to kill me.Are there too many poets? Who am I to judge? Creativity must be respected. I barely have time to bathe or eat. UPS trucks pull up by the hour with cartons of poems. When I am done reading a few hundred I try to pass them on., but others refuse my offer. Illiterates.
My eyes  hurt and my head aches, but this is something I owe to these artists. Another truck just pulled up.

New CVS

A new CVS opened and I can barely contain my excitement. Aisles of untouched stuff. A new pharmacist. New drugs. New smell. New uniforms. No crowds. No waiting. A new blood pressure machine.
Plenty of parking. New, fresh paint, new magazines and books.
I won't say where it is. My secret.

Old Man

I sit in my brother's yard on a bench in the sun reading the paper, my cane next to me. Overnight I have become an old man due to  a left hip that looks like Dresden on the MRI. I do everything slower. Sometimes I'll look off in the distance wondering what happened to my once active life. I am reading a book every two or three days.Unable to drive, walk, sit or stand, I was moved from my condo, which I haven't seen for weeks, to his place in Bradley Beach. It is numbingly quiet here, especially at night.
I miss my friends and my old haunts. I miss Hudson County, as many problems as it has. I miss hanging out and drinking tea or coffee and reading my paper. I know people have worse problems. Boy, did I take things for granted, like walking around the park without pain. I may just be buying some time before an inevitable hip replacement. This has been a lost autumn.

Pain

Pain is sneaky, ruthless, humbling.
It waits until just the right time to strike--when you are in the shower, getting out of bed, eating, talking, stretching, dressing. It senses your fear and takes full advantage.
Describing it brings grimaces from those you love, so you clam up and suffer. And wait for tomorrow, hoping pain is bored and attacks someone else.
Giving in to pain is not humiliating. it makes akk the sense in the world. Pain is telling you that you were having too much fun.

Netflicks

I have discovered Netflicks and there is no reason to leave the house anymore. Every major TV show and movie is contained on it. It is the greatest concept since digital cameras. i am at my brother's house and he has every cable network imaginable. I had no idea there were so many home improvement shows.
I am fighting a serious hip problem, but the pain is lessened every time I watch Kevin Spacey manipulate someone on House of Cards. I will attack weeds next, then Breaking Bad and so on.  Kate Mara is so hot. The only problem with living here is they won't let me sneak snacks.

Sidelined

How long before they forget me? Sidelined by hip pain. can't leave the house. no desire to talk to friends. how long before i fade from memory. sick of watching tv. cannot sit without pain. therapy useless. precious weeks drag by. autumn vanishing as i lay in bed.
i am becoming a ghost.