<\/p>\n

Ablutions<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t how I hoped I\u2019d live my life,<\/p>\n

suddenly awake<\/p>\n

as the phone blares disco beats.<\/p>\n

The iPhone starts to shake<\/p>\n

with a wheezed malevolence. Deep breath.<\/p>\n

Slap down a groping hand.<\/p>\n

Toilet. Toothbrush. Shower. Shave.<\/p>\n

Each civilized demand<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

feels like a move toward life itself, as warmth<\/p>\n

courses through the veins.<\/p>\n

Our motor systems push against<\/p>\n

the obvious refrains<\/p>\n

of too much work and far too little sleep<\/p>\n

and barely getting by<\/p>\n

on what I make for what I owe.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s only so much pie<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

in a given chart, and past one hundred<\/p>\n

it doesn\u2019t quite add up,<\/p>\n

another blend of coffee, but<\/p>\n

in someone else\u2019s cup.<\/p>\n

Fuzz out the numbers and the equals signs,<\/p>\n

forget the integers\u2014<\/p>\n

the positives and negatives\u2014<\/p>\n

north-south, or his-and-hers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Breakfast. I can almost feel my face,<\/p>\n

and then my sense of smell<\/p>\n

returns with yogurt and tea with milk.<\/p>\n

I guess it\u2019s just as well<\/p>\n

that once again it\u2019s fall, and the humidity<\/p>\n

is slightly less oppressive.<\/p>\n

The fan\u2019s on \u201clow\u201d beside my bed.<\/p>\n

I think I look impressive<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

heading down the street in chelsea boots,<\/p>\n

a vintage leather tie,<\/p>\n

slim-cut trousers, French-cuffed sleeves,<\/p>\n

and hair in my right eye,<\/p>\n

though texturized and separated out<\/p>\n

by an expensive trim.<\/p>\n

The slim-cut jacket\u2019s double-vented.<\/p>\n

Some quixotic whim<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

insists upon a pocket square. We take<\/p>\n

the time because we must<\/p>\n

to indicate the place we are,<\/p>\n

the people whom we trust.<\/p>\n

So off to the bodega for a cup of sludge<\/p>\n

\u2014$1.25\u2014<\/p>\n

WMD in taste.<\/p>\n

It makes me feel alive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As I head toward Lorimer, the sun<\/p>\n

is heating up my back.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll get hot, but not quite yet.<\/p>\n

I pick up the slack<\/p>\n

pace I\u2019d set myself as Wallabout<\/p>\n

angles toward the west.<\/p>\n

Cut left on Bedford, right on Park.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll spare you all the rest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Suffice it to say that I arrive on time,<\/p>\n

take the elevator<\/p>\n

to my office, and prepare<\/p>\n

for classes slightly later<\/p>\n

in the day. And as the screen comes on<\/p>\n

(arthritically, of course),<\/p>\n

I think about the coming week<\/p>\n

and hope to fuck \u201cthe Force<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

is with me,\u201d at least for a little while.<\/p>\n

(Click on the file, then print.)<\/p>\n

Thirteen hours till I\u2019m in bed.<\/p>\n

(The toner\u2019s almost spent.)<\/p>\n

Head downstairs and off to class.<\/p>\n

Here goes another day<\/p>\n

of rattling off points I-V<\/p>\n

pretending I\u2019m okay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Ablutions   This isn\u2019t how I hoped I\u2019d live my life, suddenly awake as the phone blares disco beats. The iPhone starts to shake with a wheezed malevolence. Deep breath. Slap down a groping hand. Toilet. Toothbrush. Shower. Shave. Each civilized demand   feels like a move toward life itself, as warmth courses through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3542"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3623,"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542\/revisions\/3623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}