Fred Aiken Writing

February 8, 2022

Cheesecake Factory Dream Kitchen

it’s easier to discard hopes when they’re written down on a Cheesecake Factory napkin,

then sandwiched in the menu between the Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta and the Avocado Eggrolls,

whatever those two things are,

but maybe it will trouble the next guest to wonder who wrote

this horrible poem,

or maybe it will forever be a doodle meant for no one

February 8, 2022

The Room is Cramped

I have a bunch of note cards in my pocket that I carry around all day

to remind me to act normal and not be so standoffish,

they give me advice that I’ve written down over the years

from self-help books and seminars,

sometimes just random phrases I thought sounded cool at the time,

or buzzwords that I read in a blog about becoming less misanthropic,

but they only work whenever I check them every fifteen minutes or so,

less my resolve tears down and I retreat

to the cavern of my mind,

so I can take my shoes off,

and relax

February 8, 2022

The Eldritch Song

there’s some coffee still left in the pot,

there’s still some ketchup on the plate,

there’s a shit ton of words left unsaid,

and despite what the news says,

there’s still life to be wasted for another array of decades

made to facilitate the images, words, and creatures

of an estate gone wrong and rotten, for the eldritch to sing their tune