It’s Spoken Word Tuesday! In Kelowna, Tuesday means an awesome open mic with some rad student and community folks like Ethan Arlette. Here on the internet, it means that I post a piece of creative writing for the internet to nom on, rather than my usual fare.

If I had a piece of paper for every time I bitched
about being busy this year, the Encyclopedia Britannica
would be impressed.

I can only count on two hands
the times I didn’t spend a break from work
sending e-mails or stressfully securing sources.

Caffeine Fridays, Liquor Tuesdays, Liquor Wednesdays
and Thursdays,
being so tired that every bus trip is a powernap
with a glass window for a cushion.
Emergency whiskey every day because every day is.

If it would have got me free time,
I would have filled every page of my burnout encyclopedia
with terrible syndicated wire articles about
celebrities.

But I got it, and now I lie catatonic.
I read so many graphic novels I ran out of comics.
Did you know that the Green Lantern Corps are only one of eight emotion and light-based space corps, and that Dick Grayson is Batman?

I dreamed that someone asked me
“what is the university working on right now?”
and looked at me with disappointment
when I had no answer.
Even my dreams are mad at me.

I refuse to take it laying down.
I refuse to play any more
goddamned Super Mario flash games.
Busy is who I am. It’s what I do.
I need to take every page and write in it.
To be tired, alcoholic, and happy.

photo by me