Attention Tax

June 2

The Attention Tax

Paying attention is the price exacted for living in this society. A taxation which is like a leach; it takes the life force, diverts my brain waves, claims the water rights to my river of thought. What is left I use to wash off what I can, never quite managing to feel clean or clear. I sit in the mud puddle still unsure if I understand what just happened; harboring a dark fear of the wave to come.

Cultivate creative ambition

*

BOTTLE THE ACID

My sponsor said “bottle the acid” and I did

I sat back in smug reflection until the plumbing backed up

I grabbed the fast solution and poured it down the drain.

My sponsor smiled as I learned ----

The baser things will eat my life away too.

I can never just decant power and expect it to clean sweep

The clogged pathways in my recovery.

Sloshing caustic medicine into open orifices brought me here

I long for the ease of a liquid resolution

In the end, I must clean the pipes myself.

The traps are simpler to cleanse the less I’ve lied

Telling myself I don’t have to get my hands

Or heart dirty is the biggest lie of all.