Wednesday, August 16, 2023

GRIND

Each morning, 
without fail, all 
proverbial hairs 

are lined up 
by order of their
lengths to be split—

and each 
of our mandatory 
dominoes is counted 

and spread out 
into rows, in gleeful
apprehension 

of the ruinously 
dire chain 
reaction to follow. 

And then—in the streets
and the homes 
where we live,

one by one, at the halls
and the rooms we 
do business in—

the processes 
begin: insidious 
synonyms are secreted 

which leach into our 
speech and change each
"every" to an "only."

Once enacted, 
of course, this vile but 
daily transmutation

cannot be redacted. 
No wonder, by evening, 
everyone's exhausted.