Man Overboard

Every now and then
One of them emerges
Like a drowning vacationer
Flailing his arms
Desperately

Yet everytime
you somehow manage
To miss them
Long enough
For them to sink deeper
Than ever before

Yes,
Its better
Than diving in there,
Going against the current,
Thrashing forth,
Arm over arm,
Over arm over arm,

Until you reach them,
Coughing up tales,
You’ve dreaded telling

Why the hell
Should you bring them,
Back to shore?

The days, the weeks, the months,
Of tidily organized
Disorder
Strewn about
For everyone to look at
And turn their noses up to

As if the sea
Harbours none of their secrets

Yet you know
That before anyone
Is to ever reach
Your deepest depths
You’ve got
Some cleaning to do

Man overboard

Trial and Error

Would you just look
At the mess you’re making here?
Every word that comes out of your mouth,
Hits the floor, breaks into shards
Each with a different destination in mind;
None eventually hitting the mark.

You hop, skip, jump,
Make sloppy little pirouettes,
Spin around me like a moon with a wonky orbit;
Comfortably apart one second,
Millimeters away from colliding the next.

Yet, I know you pose no harm.
If you truly knew how to conduct
This bizarre symphony of yours,
I’d be concerned.

But trial and error
Can make a chimp
Look like a genius sometimes.