Out Like a Lamb

How to Keep It Together

First, breathe in and out
or rather give attention to the breath

but no no not like that, not quite so much like
almost - dare I say it - death

try measured:
one and two and three,
eight and nine, ten million eighty-four

keep count 'til all those numbers
turn to silly sounds

but maybe slower still

the breathing
and

the

counting

both

or wait try ventilating hyper
you do not even need a paper bag
(unless to hide your bottle in)

or rather blow a joint
but hold on that could make you paranoid
         WE KNOW THEY'RE OUT TO GET YOU
ha ha I'm only kidding

write a poem, give it random rhyme

and hey if that don't work you just relax
like Frankie gone gone gone to Hollywood

or oh hold on I think a shower might just do it
hot up high
sit down
befriend the burn the soap the steam

whatever you do, please do not scream

the real problem, I'm afraid
is that I myself
         have
                   come
                             apart

and cannot teach
what's clearly far beyond my reach.




note ▼

How-to poem—Write a poem that gives us “instructions” on how to do something amazing, unlikely, impossible, or unusual…Let the title be explicitly “how to”ish. Examples: How to Get Under My Skin, How to Bury Yourself, How to Bring About World Peace (on $10 or Less), etc.