from left to right

notches

in the edge of the desk

i forget why i made them

but i know that  they were made with purpose

a pocket knife

grey

not sharp

a roll of tape

transpore

which allows moisture to permeate

a pencil

with an aftermarket eraser

an old school one

orange

you know

semi-conical

cracked one third of the way up

(here is where i would make a “below that”

style reference, but anyway)

to the right of

and in contact with

aforementioned pencil

is an approximately one inch long

(before it shriveled)

piece of lettuce

which i vaguely remember moving

away from my keyboard

where i found it

just below the sticky note

on which i have written

the metrics

for William Carlos Williams’ poem

this is just to say

1,2,3,4-

4233

1,2,3,4-

2523

1,2,3,4-

3523

not that he was thinking of metrics

when he wrote it

but i loved it

and at the time

i was thinking of metrics

so screw you

William

and just above that

is a jellybean

i think it was grape soda flavored

before i was about to mention

that it is essentially inedible

but more importantly-

it looks like it’s been smashed

by some thing

and even further above that

is a pen

(there is a black

short hair

just below it

but i have resisted mentioning it

because of its insignificance)

i can see exactly how it functions

from here

down to the revolving tiers

of the unidirectional cylinder

(don’t get me started on the chemistry of the follicle)

*click*

*click*

did you know

your body converts

sugar to fat

in the absence of fat

so if all you eat is fat-

you don’t get fat

(because one fat molecule binds three sugars

to your tummy, hips and thighs

no sugar, no blubber)

but

if all you eat is sugar

your body turns sugar

into fat

and you get fat

fat fat fat

i am sorry if that was too complicated

or simple

but regardless

next to that is my computer monitor

a lopsided affair

but aren’t they all

underneath it rests

another inexplicably flat jellybean

orange this time

then more tape

(clear now)

too late

to the right

stick with me here-

i have been collecting

a certain fast food chain’s

monopoly gamepieces

and seriously

i think we can all reiterate it here

if you get

1

2

and 3

then you win a million dollars

draw one-

1

draw two-

2

draw three-

1

draw four-

you know they never give you that last $#%@ing piece

and i just wanted

not to be the first

to say that

just the first

to write it down

(it’s official)

and (unofficially)

just right of that is a water bottle

that is all

pure and simple

water

the source of life on our planet

the most natural

of naturals

(encased in economical plastic)

birds that get stuck in trash deserve to die

thinking like that deserves to die

well

regardless of what it deserves

it will die

because enough people

want to see it dead

what

were you saying?

oh yes

of course

that’s me now

and just south of me

is the wall