adjectives anonymous
I go to meetings
tell my story with lurid culpable details
admit I am powerless again and again
come home sober and resolved
to let the concrete speak for itself
but in short order pick up a pen
and as doodling becomes poetry
I begin to crave the liquor
of bloated and fuzzy adjectives
to place in front of every noun
storm through the house
for the Thesaurus hidden in the towels
the synonym dictionary stashed under the sofa
the pocket version in the light fixture
or the OED disguised as a Bible
I’ve even resorted to a rhyming dictionary
in a paper bag I’m ashamed to say
I’m beginning to think it’s hopeless
this distasteful debauched life of words
endless shades of meaning useful to no one
even the sessions on adverbs
seem wastefully superfluous
how many have I hurt by this fondling of modifiers
how many children bear lifelong scars
does it really matter
I make amends with palpable intentions
hope for spiritual awakening
the concise brevity of delete and backspace
then let go serenely accepting
the varied and subtle things I cannot change