Shattered Pretend

A blitz poem, a poetic form created by Robert Keim, uses repetition over short phrases to create a stream of thought. This poem is an adaptation of that; a blitz poem has a title of three words (first word of the third line joined by a preposition to the first word of the fourty-seventh line). 'Shattered Pretend' does not meet the three-word-title criteria. However, it is still meant to be read as a blitz poem - rapidly with hardly a pause for breath.

Shattered Pretend


shattered dream
shattered bone
bone dry like a well in drought
bone splint as if taping pieces forms a whole
whole family
whole mess
mess that I abhor
mess I’m afraid of
of loss
of this
this fractured mayhem
this total abandonment of control
control yourself with a lack of tears
control what you can and never get upset
upset laundry
upset stomach
stomach the loss
stomach the sickness
sickness that pervades
sickness that will destroy
destroy, rape, splinter
destroy me
me but what can I do?
me the minor
minor key
minor mistake
mistake my meaning
mistaken identity
identity theft
identity crisis
crisis of faith
crisis and chaos
chaos amongst order
chaos that comprises reality
reality is when you don’t wake up from the nightmare
reality is the realization that you’re stuck
stuck in the desert
stuck with nothing left to do
do nothing
do and be done
done with the day
done with trying
trying to fix things
trying to make everything work
work on things over my jurisdiction
work and play
play doctor and imagine fixing things
play pretend
pretend...
things...