Tangled,8/20/10 Poem by Ryan Cole

Tangled …

(like the cord to my earbuds

shoved too quickly into my breast pocket

at the beginning of my shift

wrapped around the sunglasses

that fling themselves to the ground

as I retrieve my iPod at the end of my work day

plummeting to the asphalt of the parking lot

to shattering lense and bent frame

and angry curses at the unfairness of fate

and a journey home squinting in the bright sun)

… are the strings around my heart