Streaming (or twenty introductions to unrelated poems)

Here's a poem:

by Cody Craig (that’s me) 9/15/21

A stream of something.

Right?

Does clarity come in reflection

or hindsight?

When I look into the stream,

do I see something?

Is it different though

from what I might see in still water?

How long is something still until it stagnates?

How long until I stagnate?

I’m tired.

Just being honest.

No pictures of allusions here.

I’m just tired of trying.

I’m tired of investing

in anything and everything and something

that might just leave.

I had this image of a moment.

I trapped it in my mind’s eye

And then by mental alchemy

I turned that moment into

tiny scraps of paper.

I had this moment

and I blew on it with my mind’s mouth

and watched it blow away.

I’m tired because:

What if you leave in two years?

What will I have invested in?

What if I leave in two years?

Could I do it again?

I’m getting too old to start over

Reach