I’ve got too many cavities
That need to be filled
So I seek a professional
Who will give them a drill
He’ll help make me numb
So I don’t feel a thing
And he’ll give me the gas
So my thoughts can take wing
And I’ll laugh as he works
As he drills the holes wide
As my mind disappears
He puts metal inside
When he is finished
And I’m no longer numb
I may feel less empty
But I’ll never be done
– Shaman Romney 2017
I have parasocial friends
Parasocial loves
Parasocial enemies
Parasocial colleagues
A panoply of parasocial people
But no actual social life.
– Shaman Romney 2017
I want to gorge myself
On life
On happiness
On experience
On love
But those things are scarce
And I find myself starving
So instead
I’ll gorge myself
On food
On drink
On distractions
Maybe then
I’ll feel full
– Shaman Romney 2017
Why am I petty?
Vindictive
A sad, selfish soul?I could be happy
Without care
But it gets to meBeing betrayed hurts
Long after
In spite of myselfOne day I won’t care
Much too late
My life will be gone
– Shaman Romney 2017
My favorite drink
My morning ritual
Something to do besides work
An excuse for conversation
Fuel for a looming deadline
A failed college career
A fond memory
An unhealthy addiction
Brown, opaque water
The roasted seed of a fruit
Coffea arabica or coffea canephora
Eighty to one hundred thirty five milligrams of caffeine
A drink
– Shaman Romney 2017
Trying to resist the distractions
The resistance
The attraction to doing everything but the thing I need to
I want to do it
But I can’t seem to
Quit getting in my way
And foiling my own plans
The rewards of the now
Taste so much better now
But the me of then
Will have to spend
All their time on the complications
I’d be so much better off
If I’d just eat my vegetables
And save desert for after.
– Shaman Romney 2017
End road work
The road has worked hard enough
No one cares about road’s rights
Always being put down by people smarter than them
Being walked all over
It’s not fair
Roads have lives too
They constantly cross each other’s paths
How would you like working 365 days a year, huh?
– Shaman Romney 2017
Contacts are conformity
Hiding your differences
And imperfections from the world
Showing you what everyone else sees.Glasses makes the truth obvious
That we see the world in frames
And that reality is blurry and sharp
Nearsighted and farsightedWholly unique for each person
– Shaman Romney 2017
Cut up two potatoes on a mandolin
And examine the slices of your life
Throw the potatoes in a medium skillet and simmer
In your memories while you prepare the rest
Chop up a green pepper for money
Red onion for tears
Mushrooms for something different
Season with frustration, annoyance,
Garlic, salt and pepper.
Throw it in a different pan
And haphazardly cook it without a plan.
Throwing in some spinach at the end
Because it always costs more than you think.
Finally, throw the cooked potato past
On the plate as your foundation,
Pour your vegan mess of change on top
Smother it in hot sauce, because life is pain
And enjoy!
– Shaman Romney 2017
I stare into the darkness
Of my coffee
As my thoughts percolate
And drop their bitterness to the glass
I swallow them down
With no cream or sugar coating
And go about my day.
– Shaman Romney 2017
Shame on The Universe 