Stress Survivalist Kits 7
 
 

To relax
my beloved kindles me
"Slow down"

The restaurant's manager makes a commission
out of everyone's sales
He tells me
"To make a good waiter
Show your dimples more
and don't get irritated
with customers and cooks"

The Paxil ad says
I might have social anxiety disorder.

The Masculinist movement says
"It's natural for men to be anti-social".

My foot doctor says
"Change your waiting tables career"

My professor says
"the economy ain't getting any better"

My yoga teacher says
"Do meditation
and focus on your breathing,
to calm yourself
and become one with the universe"

But without support,
sitting still with a straight back hurts.

Touching the tips of my index fingers
to the tips to my thumbs
brings the bullying demons bluntly in my face.
The illuminations force my eyes open.

So to limit the exposure
there's a pick
between my right index finger and thumb.

And, like folds of a match cover, my left hand
strikes a guitar neck

I'm slouching, seasawing to some metronome
The notes are sweeter when my eyes close

My breathing is in tune
with 8 sounds of the universe