MILLSTONES OR MILESTONES

MILLSTONES OR MILESTONES

Like an albatross around my neck
That time cannot set free,
A millstone heavy pulls me down,
Into the dregs of insanity.
The millstone of the loss of ease,
Coupled with this odd disease,
That leaves its stain with precision stark.
A stain on the wall for impaired talking,
A stain on the wall for deep cane walking.
A stain on the wall for loss of speech,
Broken trains of thought, derailed and out of reach.

Millstone hiding in my eyes,
In the periphery of my sight.
Memory strikes an awkward pose,
Tolls its bell at midnight.
I still have campfire stories,
Of the past and fractured glories.
I've lived so long I remember the millstones,
Forget the milestones that brought me here,
Awards and promise of a fruitful career.
Spinning records or spinning yarns,
Mr. Comma and his offbeat charms,
They all elude me now,
Where are all the umpires,
Their outraged calls of foul?

Like offbeat notes in a forgotten song,
The millstones echo loud and long,
The milestones drown in the nearest creek,
All I've left are bromides, unhelpful doublespeak.
Cast overboard into the waters,
This albatross around my neck,
These sullen thoughts that go unchecked,
These milestones turned so soggy,
Drowned in the millstone maelstrom,
'Til the brain turns weak and foggy,
All i long for sweet release,
From this unrelenting beast.

From these stains on the wall for impaired talking,
These stains on the wall for deep cane walking.
These stains on the wall for loss of speech.
These boiling hot milestones melting at my feet,
Hopeless and so out of reach.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2015
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED