Will today be different?
Morning.
The alarm nags, the mind drags itself from the bed.
Will today be different?
Scan the headlines, check email.
Shower. Shave. Cereal. Milk.
Feed the birds and take the sleeper a mug of tea.
Is the shirt different to yesterdays?
Lunch. Bread, meat,
condiments, cut and boxed.
Fruit. A carrot
maybe.
Floss. Brush. Rinse. Spit.
Time to go.
Will today be different?
A farewell kiss and creep into the traffic.
The regulars, numberplates I recognise.
The boom gates. Will
I miss them? No.
A well-travelled route.
Smooth through repetition.
Neck and neck with serious cyclists. Lycra-clad.
I pass them, they pass me.
They are smug and righteous.
I am warm. And dry.
Closer to the city, the trendy cyclists. Upright.
Prim.
Car spot 22. Am I
square? Readjust.
Engine off. Lights
off. Deep breath.
The briefcase, the short walk to the front door.
Yesterday hurt. The
day before did too.
Will today be different?
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2013
---
absolutely lovely...painful but lovely.
ReplyDeleteIsn't doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result, the definition of something? Insanity, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteI hope today will be different...I hope today only good news prevails!
ReplyDeleteVery touching and personal. The repitition of daily life can sometimes be despairing and it is necessary to inject some change now and then to break the cycles.
ReplyDeleteBut if they are actually causing pain? Perhaps a sign major change is needed.
Don't particularly want a major change - just a safe passage through the foyer minefield. What the writing didn't seem to catch was the tension in the morning as I head to work. Need to rework it, perhaps.
DeleteAdded the two repeating lines 'Will today be different'.
DeleteThink the second one should be " Please let today be different."
DeleteYeah, maybe. I think I like the recurring element better.
DeletePlus ça change, plus c'est la même choise! Tristement!
ReplyDeleteHmm, with the exception of the nagging alarm I felt tedium rather than tension. Though mind you the lycra louts can cause a little of the latter - many seem to have serious death wishes which I do not want to see realised.
ReplyDeleteLife is cyclical..good patch followed by bad.Learn to walk on air..then you don't have to worry about minefields.You see! being able to walk on water has its advantages:)
ReplyDeleteSpend far too long walking on egg-shells lately...
DeleteBirds lose their feathers
DeleteCats shed their fur
We lose our "muchness"
Tis seasonal
We are entering winter blue
We can write sad together
Rallentanda - terrific response...
ReplyDeleteJ - poem is a perfect capture of deep ennui - as far as walking on eggshells - enjoy the crunch beneath your soul - one cannot walk on eggshells without damaging both the egg-shell and one's certain stride. :)
Yeah life is cyclical or seasonal if you will - darkest day of the year and coldest day kind of thing- forced to just hole up sometimes count on the stores you accumulated in the summer- empty yourself out to be able to accept whats to come maybe - out of control craziness is sure to come again soon enough one would guess
ReplyDeleteI say grab a few more eggs and toss them down to add to the music your are creating. best of luck on your journey.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that much of life is repetitive. Some things change, but much repeats day after day.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this, the routine, the wondering. I relate to "yesterday hurt".....I too hope for better days, kiddo - we live in hope.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder how I can go through the same routine one more day... You poem says it all in a very pertinent way.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I love the opening line... and then the way your day unfolds, the feeling of almost dread, it seems, to go to work.
ReplyDeleteGetting through the same routine every day is survival. Putting thoughts together about it, writing, dreaming, reaching out.... is closer to living. So I tell myself wondering much the same thing on some days.
ReplyDeletepenetrating verse
ReplyDeleteMay be banal for many, but many (unemployed, in debt, starving etc.) would welcome such. Get a gratitude stone, dream some dreams, and reap the rewards of the universe!
We are the sum total of all our choices - for better and for worse - at any given moment. Of course, you know this. Strange to see you cycling downward as I begin to swing up. Maybe this lack of sun business has some truth to it...
ReplyDeletemusing,
xxx
It has more to do with a front receptionist who acts as if I bit the head off her budgie and spat it in her soup. Constantly on edge going to and fro through the reception area. Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...
DeleteOh right. I missed the foyer reference in an earlier reply. I mistakenly assumed it was the home foyer. My bad. Still, a thoughtful piece of work.
Deletexxx
It didn't quite convey the sense of apprehension mixed with morning drudgery that I wanted but it will have to do. Thank you.
DeleteOne of your best, I love the refrain, Will today be different ~ I too am bogged down by routine and work of which I am grateful ~ But really it all boils down to everyday passive life ~ My days are different on weekends though when I can write ~
ReplyDeleteGrace
Painfully beautiful poem.
ReplyDeleteI haven't followed you for a long time, but this seems very different from where you usually come from, a soft side. I like both. Well done.
ReplyDelete