overdoing it

i’m sometimes

the dog who spends

too much time

frolicking in the

salty waves

carefree and never

thinking of tomorrow

swallowing every

moving thing whole

and not noticing how

my belly has become

swollen until

it all comes back out again

the moving crab legs

fish tails flapping

entrails of the jelly fish

that i was earlier

so hungry for

but now want to

wish away into

the cornfield

Reviews

[ETERNITY]

Yep! Been there, done that!
Can't stop doing it for some reason.
Great write!

[Eilis]

Finding out my kids are neurodivergent and diving into what that means (seeing shades of myself and finally getting my experiences throughout my whole life), I was thinking of that as I read. That tendency I have to get so deeply immersed in things—a kind of insatiable desire to absorb more and more of my interest without really thinking about where it’s going or what comes next. No real goal other than to be in that space with the thing learning more. That’s what I thought of while reading this. It is an almost physical thing. The crash inevitable comes. I used to describe things I read in terms of food. It was a natural way for my mind to think of it. I realize now it may have seemed weird to people I was talking to but words can have that quality for me even now.

I love the innocence of the image with the dog just going for it and diving in with joy. It’s great to be the innocent explorer even knowing the crash will come. It’s the double edge of experience and mind. Seems that all goodness also contains sharp edges. Your playful images almost belie the come down. Fun and relatable for me, well—a sort of recognition that validates experience.

[SkinlessFrank]

Hi E,

Thanks for the review. My son is "on the spectrum", and maybe I am too. I watch him immersed in what he does while at work or play and when he emerges from it is always some kind of abrupt transition, a bit like being jarred awake in sleep. He almost looks startled. I always enjoy your perspective on things.

[DIVYA]

A distended, greedy stomach full of things swallowed thoughtlessly....

The moving crab legs and flapping fish tails were so vivid. Reminded me of the Romans, who wanted to keep feasting endlessly and so had vomitariums where they brought it all out and went back to feasting.

One must titrate, calibrate, limit experiences and go with caution or suffer inner revolt. This was an amazing metaphor. I loved it.

[LJW]

I just wrote and posted a new one with waves and crabs. But no dog. Lol

I could see that dog barreling into the water open mouthed and spasmodically happy! ( It was a yellow goofy labrador)

Anything we do comes back on us somehow..especially those things we barrel into like a goofy lab set loose on the beach!

[SkinlessFrank]

Glad to hear that this happens to you too. Maybe we need one of those reflux valves that they place in drains to prevent back flow.

[LJW]

Or maybe we should just stop doing it.
Lol

[Kay/Hayden]

So funny and clever! Very different and somewhat gross? IF you are thinking about ever publishing this, you may want to fix your grammar some. Overall though, very intriguing poem. One of the few poems I have read where I really feel intrigued. I look forward to reading your future poems and will make sure to review those too! Sadly, I find myself being the dog sometimes as I take many things for granted as do so many other people. Have a great Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas if you are Christian!

[roarke]

There's a "empty the vessel to refill again" message here Frank. And regurgitating the contents is standard human hard-wiring for life retrospection. Cornfields not with standing. I dug this, from one dog in salty water to another.

[Samuel Dickens]

You, too? I had to laugh at that last part. Yes, I'm that dog more often than I'd like to admit. A clever write.

[. serah .]

-- oh, this is so insightful... now i'm wondering if i've been this dog most of my life... -- some of the thoughts and ideas that i consumed... because they looked attractive on the surface and i didn't think about the future of my mental health... turned out to be so awful later that i had to spend years in isolation to figure out exactly which thoughts i like independently... and yet the lessons i learnt as the dog were priceless... -- they served as an important reference point... and told me what not to consume... -- life is a very perplexing experience... and i absolutely love how you've created a complex study out of a simple image... sheer genius... and an unforgettable poetry lesson...