I’ve been going through something lately

I feel as if I’m an alka-seltzer tablet being
dropped into a glass of water;
except that the glass of water is a liter of coke
and I am a pack of mint mentos — only
that the liter of coke is really a bathtub filled with
water and I’m a toaster plugged into the socket.

It’s kind of like opening an in-flight
magazine, only to find the crossword section
incorrectly completed.
No — It feels more like when you fill up the
kiddie pool on a nice summer day, only to
cannonball onto a utility consumption bill.

Maybe if I grow up to be a poet, I’ll be able to describe it
as how the asters feel at night — lacking lilac hue as they
lose their fragrance and discover what it means to be, not necessarily
dead, but rather nothing only for a few hours — whatever that means.
But for now, it’s the feeling of failing to memorize
the formula that would have really helped you on that Calculus test.

Perhaps it’s hard to pinpoint the exact sensation
because it feels like pins are pricking my feet.
Ow, my leg!

Charley Horse
By Jean-Vincent Garcia