Fred Aiken Writing

September 17, 2023

ONCE UPON AN ADULTHOOD

i thought when i became an adult
i would no longer get acne,
though i don’t know why i thought that,
it’s not like anyone tried to convince me of it,
but i just assumed, i guess,
that acne was an adolescent problem,
like having to go to class to learn things i would not retain,
or having peers snicker at me because of one such thing or another
as i walk down the hallway,
though i suppose high school was just preparing me for
the inevitable train of thought to come,
nothing would change,
but taxes seem strange

September 16, 2023

WILD HAIR

when i get a wild hair to straighten out my extension cords,
i feel like i’m engaging in battle with hydra,
with each knot untangled,
another one forms, a constant string of labyrinthine orange, black, and yellow
pieces of electrical conduits that hang in my garage,
mangled pieces of electrical wire that i forget about,
until i need to hang christmas lights,
or power the power washer,
but i wish it didn’t feel like an impossible task
to make my extension cords look neat,
but i dunno, maybe i’ll buy one of those reels that keep them
nice and tidy, at least then i won’t keep tripping off my own damn negligence

September 15, 2023

WHEN STEALING ISN’T STOLEN

i stole nutella once from the store,
not because i had to,
in fact, i had the money in my pocket,
but i didn’t want to,
though i’d rather you not get the impression that you
think i’m some sort of kleptomaniac,
because i’m not,
but maybe i am,
i mean, i will admit that i felt a certain rush,
but maybe that was the sugar high i got from
shoving my hand into the nutella jar