deep exhales into thick air
i forgot to —
worship
the boxes drawn in my planner are still —
empty
i forgot the dishes last night my sink might —
overflow
belabored breaths into nothingness
i forgot to —
care
nothing’s there i’m on —
empty
the devil’s mind is an idle playground
or however that goes
i just know it goes
and goes
and goes
like a carousel in a —
playground
idol in a
playground
monkey bars and slides in a
playground
bars in a —
playground
i want to sleep
no sighs into stuffy air
just deep breaths
i want to —
sleep
while on my phone because i can’t stop
scrolling
can’t
stop
scrolling
and the sink has over —
flowed
it’s flooding and my pages are still —
empty
my eyes can barely open but i’m not —
sleep
i should
sleep
it’s been two months since i washed my shirt because i’ve been —
sleep
but my eyes can’t close
heavy bags under eyes that can’t close
a devil’s merry-go-round is an idle fantasy
or however that goes
it still goes
the idol goes
and the morning —
goes
and i still need to —
worship
A note from the author:
"Idle" is a poem where I correlate idleness to idolatry. I tried to make it a play on words since they sound alike. I wrote this poem to illustrate a person in a sort of depression, not doing anything productive, not writing enough, feeling super unmotivated, sleeping their days away, and how that impacts someone mentally, spiritually, and physically. The em dashes throughout are to represent long breaths, exasperated sighs if you will, to further bring home that point of how idleness makes you lethargic in every area. As I was writing the poem I realized how being idle is an idol in anyone's life (including my own) when it starts to consume you; an idol that replaces God. I hope that overarching idea is seen as the poem goes on.