The Road to Insomniac

A.J. Huffman

Road begins somewhere around my fourth cup

of caffeinated bean juice.  I cannot breathe

until its kick-started steam strokes my brain.

Fingers of a fickle lover, it picks

each day’s scars:  to-do’s that didn’t

get done, mistakes that shouldn’t have been

made, absences holding space for something

forgotten.  Each is plucked like strung chords,

tuned deliberately off-key.  The unsoothing

cacophony rocks me, one second at a time,

until dawn.

Because Cobwebs shine like diamond tiaras

in the moonlight, I believe I am

Cinderella.  Crawling

through midnight’s masquerade

with one shoe on, I emulate balance.

A flawed perception of tomorrow

cuts the darkness ahead of me like

magic.  Wand  at the ready, I stumble

into the harsh light of “Happily

Ever After,” gag when I see what I am

supposed to slip more than my foot into.

Popcorn Unplugged Oil-slicked theatrical, returned

to base form.  Golden nugget

of potential, unactualized

growth.  Threatening

form of favored vegetable, waiting

to crack unsuspecting enamel

A.J. Huffman is a poet and freelance writer in Daytona Beach, Florida.  She has previously published six collections of poetry all available on Amazon.com.  She has also published her work in numerous national and international literary journals.  She has is the editor for six online poetry journals for Kind of a Hurricane Press ( www.kindofahurricanepress.com ).  Find more about A.J. Huffman, including additional information and links to her work at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000191382454 and https://twitter.com/#!/poetess222