Time-Shifts Are Dangerous Ii Poem by Margaret Alice

8 February - Saga of Today -

I’m tired today, after a week of battling
with fatigue I still haven’t found my feet,
some kind of intolerance causes energy
to leak from my supersensitive system

I lay in front of the TV to get some sleep,
then got up but still can’t keep my eyes
open, my head’s too heavy for my body,
my thoughts empty, I feel depleted

Nothing stirs my feelings, all I can think is
I need more sleep, looking at newspaper
pictures and wishing for some energy, I
hate this lethargy, overwhelming fatigue –

My beloved is angry, the decoder is demon-
possessed, refuses to acknowledge the
card’s presence, no communication between
these pieces of modern technology means

No image on TV; I sit in the kitchen, enjoying the
cold air-con stream, while my beloved jumps up-
and-down and screams curses of all kinds at the
gadgets and pieces of equipment that refuse

To work, he’s working with the pressure-cooker,
his blood pressure rising ever higher, while I
hang my head; I’ve found several magic things
at the home industry, feeling too tired to indulge

My taste for enchanted objects, my system has
shut down – time shifts tapped what little energy
I had for today…

Time Shifts Are Dangerous I

Collected Tiaan from school, driving in a pool of
brightest sunshine, the world sparkling like a jewel,
emerald trees in shimmers of gold, a sapphire sky,
delighted to drive on such a beautiful day

Driving, driving along, suddenly time shifted, I don’t
know where I am, can’t recognize the steep incline
of the street, don’t know the houses around, Tiaan
busy with MXit, I’m alone in my confusion

Where am I and why am I suffocating inside my head,
my ears ringing, muscles of steel imploding my body,
I turn around and drive back the way I came, must have
taken a wrong turn somewhere

I recognize something, what I cannot tell, it is familiar,
turn left and the world comes into perspective, I know
where I am, keep straight to go home, pass the new
route that threatens confusion again

Time shifts are dangerous, where did I go, was my brain
short-circuiting, did I fall into a minute Black Hole, what-
ever happened, it is scary, ate sugar at home to put an
end to the chain reaction in my head….