Signal Lost

 

So off to the mountain I went again,

The village was getting to me,

And I had to escape its shallowness,

Go to a height from where things

Looked clear, and cleaned by the clouds.

What really happened, you ask?

Well, to start off, the milkman

Was too lazy to make his deliveries.

Every time I'd ask, where's the milk?

He would shrug and say, I forgot,

Or the cows refuse to cooperate.

I gave up and said, fine, I will just 

Drink my bloody tea without milk.

The two sisters, the cook and the cleaner,

Just a pair of melodramatic morons,

One keeps asking me, what do I cook?

The other, refuses to see the dust

On the table, even when my finger

Leaves a very visible mark, she says,

No, that's not dust, I don't agree.

And oh the gardener, this exasperating,

Confused man. When I tell him to grow 

Roses, he says, but roses have thorns.

What about pumpkins? Too big.

Carrots? Too much effort to 

Keep them away from rabbits.

Sometimes I want to tell him straight

On his face, not only does he lack

Imagination but even the inclination

To be a gardener. Now the carpenter,

Always in a hurry. Never has the time

To make a bed post, so just sticks

To making stools and chairs instead.

But I need a bed post with carvings,

I say. No, you must be practical.

A bed post is a waste of wood, he says.

All you need is a place to sleep.

The doctor has got a case of nerves,

And refuses to see the patients,

Afraid that he will catch a disease himself.

So he hides away in his clinic

And pretends everything's okay.

I said, I'm done with all of you.

I'm going up to relax. Maybe I will

Have a meltdown, maybe I will

Drink some river water, listen to the birds,

Maybe even have a word with God.

But they wouldn't leave me alone.

Kept pestering me to come back.

Who will listen to our worries?

Who will make us feel good?

Who will give us the attention we don't deserve?

And who will lay the pipes

Before the storm comes around?

I said, Who am I, how can I do everything?

But you're the one who started the village,

We came to live here because you asked us to.

That's alright, I said.

I'll come back when I want.

Now leave me alone,

I want to write about some things,

I don't want to be found.