—The Bad Year—

By Ethan S. Berry

365 Days of hot baths every morning and a weekly shower

That is a Year of waking up too tired to stand.

365 Days of four cups of coffee every morning 

and two in the evening. 

That is a Year of caffeinated stimulation, 

or 2,190 doses. 

365 Days of chain smoking every day

at least one pack of cigarettes. 

That is a Year of 7,300 cigarettes, 

or 80,300 minutes shaved off life. 

365 Days of smoking an ounce of

weed every week. 

That is a Year of mystification, and much junk food, 

but very little progress. 

365 Days of masturbating anywhere 

between two to three times. 

That is a Year of many pleasurable sensations, 

but, again, very little progress. 

365 Days of staring at the TV

and thinking I’m learning something. 

That is a Year of dust gathering on my bookshelf, 

and likely some regression. 

365 Days of working forty hour weeks, 

hating it, and myself. 

That is a Year of running on a hamster  wheel

in more ways than one.  

365 Days of staring at that dark ring 

in the toilet bowl. 

That is a Year of wallowing in my own filth

and blaming it on depression.

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