How You Learn
Haphazardly
By tripping over your own feet
By trial and error
By listening to a mentor
By listening to people
By listening to yourself
By listening
By looking around
By finally realizing
By having an awakening
An epiphany
An aha moment
Or else gradually
You learn gradually
Too late
After trying everything else first
Or by accident
Or sometimes
You don't even know
That you're learning
But you do
You still do
You learn
Tension
Never use the word SUDDENLY just to create tension — Billy Collins
Suddenly, I am sitting here
Trying not to cough
Not to focus on it when
Suddenly my foot itches
And my boots are too
Hot for this warm day
I think suddenly
I should have worn other shoes and then
Suddenly I made an appointment
With the hairdresser
To cut and color my hair
So I can suddenly look
Younger, better, crisper, smoother,
Hipper, cleaner, blonder
Like an aging Marilyn Monroe
Or some red streaks thrown in
For shock value or to create
Tension.
Suddenly, I realize that
I almost never like the way
My hair turns out
After I get it done.
I'm often disappointed.
Maybe my expectations
Are too high.
Way too high.
I'm feeling tension right now.
I'm feeling very tense.
I need to look good this weekend.
Suddenly, I realize
I hope the hairdresser
Doesn't fuck the whole thing up.
Thank you to the poets Joyce Sutphen and Billy Collins for providing these titles.
