Ode To A Miserable Day - July 5,1984 Poem by Robert Bartlett

The air is humid; the sky is gray.
Nothing seems right - what a dismal day.
My disposition is heavy like the sky overhead;
How often I've wished that I'd stayed in bed.

This morning I awoke when I wanted to sleep,
Turned on the radio, my solace to keep
When the power line failed and my alarm system wailed.
Now the clocks like my spirit are running behind.

Went to the freezer and opened the door;
The food someone placed there rolled out onto the floor.
A jar of my jam was missing a lid.
So under the sink I put in my bid
Searching for a roll of aluminum foil
Hoping to cover the jar's natural hole.
After pawing through paper-goods bought from the store
I found nothing suitable, except the mess on the floor.

Breakfast had waited as I'd searched in vain
So I drank cold coffee. It looked a little like rain.
Prompted thus by a false sense of logic,
Went outside to begin a burdensome project.
Worked two hours and then had to quit,
I'd cut my finger and grown weary of it.

Came back into the house and napped a bit;
Felt slightly rested, but more restless yet.
Took a spoonful of DIGEL* and a cup of tea
To assail the feelings that haunted me.
Then resting my head at the edge of the bed
A vision of sleep drifted over my head.

Got up and had lunch, that was okay;
Typed a loan application - that made my day!
Then sealed up the envelope before it was done,
Breaking open the seal really wasn't much fun.

Sat down for supper - the best part of the day.
Made it through to dessert without further mishap,
When lo and behold, the cake from my dish rolled onto my lap;
From there to my chair and thence to the floor
The cascading crumbs caused quite a furor.
Feeling frustrated, I arose in one motion
Upsetting the table and causing quite a commotion.

Thus feeling untethered, I thought I should write
Of my feelings and failings on a day nothing went right.
Some days you have it, some days you don't;
Today was the day when nothing went wont.

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*DIGEL - a liquid antacid product