Shari's Telling Stories

I panicked last night;
Thought I’d broken
my external portable hard drive.

I tried everything I could think of
on my computer
to make it work for me.

Then, trying to use it on mom’s PC
I found the simple loose connection I’d overlooked
that in my alert hours would have been first checked—

One night saw me moving some things
when I would’ve preferred not to be walking.
They just had to be put away before I could sleep.

I kept typing and moving about
ignoring the wee hour in the morning
until I swung my leg in effort to propel me onward.

I slammed my foot into the solid wood
leg of the bed. Through the stunning pain
I felt the water well up in my eyes—

In that same week, I was again
burning my candle at the middle and both ends
having not learned my lesson.

Again doing work, writing and rearranging my desk
caught in the flurry of ideas that wanted out;
I collected all I could before turning in.

Only after I’d shut down and stored things
and was sitting in my bed, did I remember what I’d done.
I headed straight away to the kitchen,

opened the refrigerator to get the phone
returned it to it’s base knowing
whatever else I confused wouldn’t be caught ’til morning.

Such are the exploits of the over–tired version of me.
Despite the good things I might do or write,
events show me when I’ve waited too late to start sleeping

Pains, panics and other mistakes I might have been spared
had I trusted common sense and turned in
when I was still able to think clearly.

©2009 by Shari Lynne Smothers