Status Interruptus

The body resets during sleep,

muscle memory abounds through fitful coughs,

aching joints, dry-itching skin,

serving notice to Mind at Rest

Rogue satellites broadcast status

interruptus in the arc of their course

through night-stills of twittering chirps,

drones of machine fan humming,

chorus of death-chant crows

Restful bodies lie in solace and silence

cleaning filters, expunging

the need for the minds’ input

of the day’s disorders,

its tightening grip as evidenced

unwelcome in the clutch of my wrists

urgently held in my plaintive palms

reacting to the distorted playback

of looped invasive dreams

In halves unfold time loops,

in and out the quirks and fits,

unwilling and unable to fall gracefully

into the limited and limitless embrace

of total surrender to the mercy of the alarm

residing in a small compact computerized appendage

that greets and accompanies,

that fixes the cycle

Matt Mauldin
5/2017
Santa Barbara, CA

Appears in Patterns of Reconciliation