The November 25th prompt in The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts For Your Writing Practice, by Kelli Russell Agodon & Martha Silano, is to ‘[w]rite an experimental poem to all the things in your life that you either worry about, are afraid of, or events that have shaken you up [sic]. Allow the repetition of “dear” to guide you…’ I wouldn’t call any of these ‘experimental’, but I think I have the rest covered…

Dear Last Airplane Trip,

You know, I wasn’t really prepared for you
—it took me four Xanax just to make it through takeoff
not least of all because I had a seat in the middle

Somehow, I managed to sleep for a couple of hours
I don’t even remember what the movie was
All I know is that you ruined me for future air travel…

* * * * *

Dear Panic Attacks,

I guess I can’t really blame the airplane trip
I wouldn’t have been in that position if it weren’t for you
And you have this annoying habit of showing up at the worst fucking times

I hate you for wrecking my life
so I’m going to leave your ass behind
You’re just going to have to deal…

* * * * *

Dear Midlife Career Change,

Well, we’ve gone through this before, haven’t we?
They say that the third time’s a charm
but it’s turned into something different, hasn’t it?

Then again, I hadn’t expected all the interruptions and distractions
or that a thousand words would do more for me than the picture
But I could still use a break to get me back on the street

to mix it up for real this time…

(25 November 2014)