Day Quill, Day One

cynosure (SY-nuh-shoor) noun

1. One who is the center of attraction or interest.

2. One serving for guidance or direction.

head colds drive
hard bargains between
mucus laden slip and slides
and the thinnest strips of paper
super soakers
laced with aloe vera

follow your nose
when it runs
amok
directing all eyes
to the dry red tenderness
breathing like tiny coals
on fire
on the inside:

the pulse of health
unmasked, on stage
for all to sneeze

It Only Goes To Show

Garrison finish (GAR-i-suhn FIN-ish) noun

The finish of a contest in which the winner rallies at the last
moment to score the victory.

There's this weird notion that exists in the entertainment community called "making it". Everyone, seemingly, stands on some level of this ambiguous concept, strives to achieve it, and, often, wallows in disappointment when left unfulfilled. "Making it"--unlike "making out"--has few tangible or measurable attributes. Does "making it" presuppose fame and respect? If so, how does one quantify that? Is grand financial success a tenant of "making it"? And how much is rich, anyway? Rich for now, or rich forever? Who deems someone as successful, and should it be deemed at all?

Regardless, the whole thing smells of social pressures and sliding scales. Live dreams, don't "make" them. Very few people die having spent every dime.

And Your Bird Can Sing

speculum (SPEK-yoo-luhm) noun

1. A mirror used as a reflector in an optical instrument,
such as a telescope.

2. Speculum metal: any of various alloys of copper and
tin used in making mirrors.

3. An instrument for holding open a body cavity for
medical examination.

4. A bright patch of color on the wings of certain birds,
for example ducks

I can feel the weight of my eyelids and the heat leaving my hands. Every dismally mundane task drops like a brick before crumbling into my own dismissal. The dull drone of computer hardrives and day to day chatter of coworkers spending time as fast as they can buy suddenly flicks at the back of ears like a seventh grade instigator. My job, of late, leaves me cut open and dried; a human canyon.

I think I'm ready to move onto something new, something challenging, something more professional. Something with lunch breaks and steady, specific hours. Something that pays the same or more. Something that asks of me what I ask of it--the handshake of honest employment.