i stood outside

in my only suit

amongst a crowd of people

i had not known

the air

was soo cold

that when the wind had blown

the frost scattered

across the dead grass

like the dust off a dirt road

the trees resembled

big brown cracks

in overcast skies of stone

and the breeze

felt like an icy slap

that stung my ears and nose

i tried to think

of warmer times

to conjure up some heat

but i listened to my mother's cries

and remained frozen in grief...

it's the little things

always overshadowed

buried beneath

the muck and mire

of the tongue's desires...

they do the dirty work

by making bigger things smaller

so that we can manage them

to make sure we don't lose

the advantage when

we bite off more than we can chew...

shame

we only understand them when they hurt

when they hit that certain nerve

puts a curve

in your life

when small things

become a big problem

makes you think twice...

about taking care of those little things

yesterday is that friend that never calls

that SOB only shows up when they need something

to remind me of old favors

yesterday is leach

always borrowing from my mind

because of what he leant me a long time ago

yeah i remember that shit

and it's costing me more today

because the interest that keeps building up

from money that has already been spent

it's time to cut those losses

and invest in friends that matter

like today

she's there for me everyday

even though i ignore her

and take her for granted

hopefully

i learn to appreciate what i have

before i lose her

Have you ever been slide whipped before? It's an excruciating experience, trying to stay focused, to numb the pain as it enters the mind then leaves effortlessly. I honestly believe it never enters the mind, for the true torture is not the experience of getting whipped, and trying to attempt to look like I am fully engaged, but the torture is being trapped in a room with all your colleagues, listening to a presentation that will be obsolete in a month when I could be home with my family.

It's somewhat similar to when one of your friends calls you to complain about something that you really don't want to talk about so you put the phone down and listen to the mumbled talk coming from the phone and you just pick it up every now and again and acknowledge them with,

"Yeah, okay, uh huh..."

Slide whipping is a terrible punishment especially when it's done by a nerd who assumes you know what they are talking about. They rarely, if ever, put any pictures that correlate with the slides because they didn't feel like it and perceived the information the only relavant thing that needs to be conveyed (even though no one in this room cares about the information).

We are all only here because this damn meeting is mandatory. Why does someone need 50 slides if we only need to know maybe three sentences from your entire presentation? We are only nodding in protest; with glazed over eyes that have been suffering as we ponder,

"WTF does that graphic have to do with your slide? Is it a molecule? a flow chart? Or did your kid just upload some virus to your computer while you were home schooling."

Look man, I already forgot what you were talking about before, during and after your long drawn out presentation that you gave to us in a language that only you understand. Look around the room! Poor Bob is making love to his donut, Ed hasn't made it back from the bathroom (because his zipper got stuck again), and Sharon is on level 57 of tetrus...

Me, I'm on an island somewhere, with a drink in my hand and feet in crystal clear ocean blue water. Uh oh, I think Shane is about to ask me a question, I better plot my escape to the restroom...