Catch- 22

I find myself in trouble, yes it's true.
I sure behave just like a man in need;
I hear myself say things I know seem blue,
Although that feeling in me has no seed.

From whence does such behviour sprout and bloom?
I need to find a cure for this disease,
And yet the only helpers in this room
Infect me with the blues that I must cease.

How am I to function any more,
While looking for a way to leave, at least,
When all I want to do is pull the chord
And end my interaction with these beasts?!

If only I could find a cure in me,
But in my AI-mind you're all I see.



Notes ▼

For Writer's Cramp
Prompt:
"The phrase "catch-22" is, actually, a literary one: it derives from the novel, Catch-22 , by Joseph Heller.

In the novel, a satire of the absurdities and horrors of war, "catch 22" refers to the fictitious regulation whereby anyone who wants to leave the war by claiming insanity (think of Corporal Klinger in the TV series M.A.S.H.) is denied, having proved that they're not insane, by virtue of the very rational desire to escape the war.

The phrase has entered popular parlance to describe:
a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations... Catch-22s often result from rules, regulations, or procedures that an individual is subject to, but has no control over, because to fight the rule is to accept it. Another example is a situation in which someone is in need of something that can only be had by not being in need of it (e.g. the only way to qualify for a loan is to prove to the bank that you do not need a loan). One connotation of the term is that the creators of the "catch-22" situation have created arbitrary rules in order to justify and conceal their own abuse of power. [From wikipedia. ]

For tomorrow, write a story or poem about a protagonist caught in a "catch-22" situation. (Examples: trying to get a change of address; trying to get an identity document; proving to someone that you love (or don't love) them; proving (or disproving) a theory, etc.)

One of your genres should be SATIRE -- your work should highlight the absurdity of a particular institution or situation."

Lines: 14
Form: Shakespearean sonnet

Entered in "Poetic Traditions Poetry Contest "  Jan 2024