THE CATATONIA THAT CREEPS SO WELL

by Fred Aiken

i’ve been destroyed by a paralysis of thought
that has left me staring at a blank screen,
a blank sheet,
a blankness deep within,
while performing basic arithmetic because despite
saying i would never need math in the real world
when i was a kid,
i do occasionally use math to,
you know,
help me out of catatonia, even when it doesn’t work all too well