“Are You Worried About a Breakdown?”

--Ace Boggess

                       —roadside billboard

I have bad spots like bruises in an apple’s meat.

Maybe the whole tree’s rotten to its roots.

Tensions build. Anxiety thrums

its tuning fork inside me.

Then comes Stress, Strain, &

Worry. I tell myself: I won’t

get my news from Facebook, I won’t

get my news from talking chimps,

but I have this banana handy.

What if I snap? It’s not like I’m Rambo

taking out some Viet Cong squad.

Last week, I started this exercise routine

to calm me, help me

control my blood pressure, weight,

hope for the future. Today,

I’m suing myself for intentional

infliction of emotional distress.

There’s too much human

in being human, & not enough

being. All I want. I’m that guy

who thinks the Serenity Prayer’s too long.