The Illusion of Work

I like to flirt with homework,

lead it on, take it to my room

and feed it prawns

deep-fried in leftover effort

best for reheating later on.

Later on,

I cater too long to

paths that digress even farther from

procrastination,

I’m crawling pincer-first like a crustacean 

chasing excuses like they’re bacon

or their equivalent,

fuck if I know—phytoplankton?

Still reducing time I could be spending

producing some fine work

but no, here I am indenting

these words, here words,

geared towards clear wars

with myself, I ruin my health.

My attention span is a conveyor belt

conveying hellish projects like Rubik’s cubes,

but the rubric is screwed

and the dude who sold it to me moved.

Interference, leave me alone.

I’m feeling low like baritones.

I need scarecrows

to steal my bones

so I can stop pretending

I got places to go.

And I can just settle down

like a pilgrim in the land 

he thought he found,

and out of bounds,

I’m in the zone;

just me and homework

all alone.

Candlelight,

taking it slow 

like tiny polite little dinner bites

cradled by a silver fork

I want to stab in my eye,

find out if I’m a werewolf.

I’ll either scream or die,

spoon-feed myself illusive lies,

as if because the book is open

it holds my attention without divide.

Try, try, try again

before you know it, 

it’ll be seven AM

and your Facebook page will be glowing

three friends online

and you’re feeling as empty as the

circles open beside their name—

You’re good as broken.

Fucking tired.

Go to bed.

Coffee will get you wired,

for the class you’ll miss

and you’re reminded of an FML

that you read in the abyss

of last night

when you were at that site.

until page 27.

That’s right.

There’s no redemption

when you fail to mention

the reason why you need an extension.

You say you learned your lesson,

but there’s still some tension

between your truth and your inventions.

Especially when you’re catching up

from falling behind

last week.

You’re up shit’s creek,

knee-deep in Mudd;

Blitzkrieg, please just bop me some.

Last week,

you were up shit’s creek

knee-deep in Mudd,

(Here we go)

Blitzkrieg, please just bop me some.

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