Wherever I go

Wherever I go

I move

To a melody

Playing in my ears

Whispering through my brain,

Nobody is alone anymore,

Bluetooth is a godsend

Unless it is a headache.

Cat Power sings Dylan

The memory of black and white

Pennebaker movies

Youthful mistakes

Litter the clutter,

I realise that there is a hole in my shoe

It is letting in water.

Even without traffic,

The path is a nightmare

Of broken asphalt.

Walking is all that is keeping me sane

Although the shrieking Minors

And caterwauling Cockatoos

Break the spell

Strangers pass without comment

Familiar faces

Barely register.

The focus is on walking

And the internal,

Music is a pleasant diversion

A distraction

From the flow of consciousness.

Nothing is ever solved

In silence

Eureka was not the first exclamation

It won’t be the last

And I talk out loud

In frustration

Wherever I go.

There would be madness

In keeping quiet

When the question demands an answer

It is better to acknowledge

The word

Out loud

At least

That is what I tell myself.

It is in keeping with the general

Lack of belief

In other people’s regard.

A cover for the maladroit

Awkward bungling

Of so many graceless interactions.

Everybody is self-contained

Locked away

In a bubble

It takes something peculiar

To register their interest

Just as it does mine.

All at once I am limping

The hole in my shoe

Is making itself known.

It is harder to ignore

Than the passing of strangers,

The tactless, ham-fistedness

Of life.