101,102,103……. Poem by Don Winslow

I count, I love to count, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop counting.

In 1982 I counted 3,594 clams our family dug out of Barnegat Bay from July to September.
In 1998 I counted 7 Flounder,60 Herring,170 Striped Bass,11 Weakfish,20 Shad,49 Croakers, and 19 Bluefish I caught off the Route 50 Bridge.
In 2002 I counted 2039 visitors I talked to at Assateague National Seashore,
On May 31st,2007, I counted 16 male and 8 female Horseshoe Crabs mating at high tide
at Slaughter Beach in Delaware,
On December 6th,2008, I counted 1 red breasted nuthatch,2 Cardinals,2 Juncos, and a White Throated Sparrow in my backyard,

My problem is that I think it is now an obsession. I’ve recently been counting toothpaste tubes as I finish them. I want to see how many I use up before…….

Help me……
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Back in 2005 I was advised that writing about my passion for counting could never become a “poem”. However, recently I read Raymond Carver’s poem, “The Car”, and decided to ignore the advice. After all, a poem is just an essay that’s been written in your own personal shorthand.