Ataraxia by Ross Walsh

Perhaps I should meditate
beneath a tree and wonder
why I suffer. Why exhaust
fumes fill my brain and leave me
spluttering. Why my fingers
dig with waning keystrokes through
an avalanche of icy
e-mails. Why I wake up each
morning to the regrets of
HR Administrators
who were very impressed with
me but decided to go
in another direction.
The black gold, served hot in my
mug, is running out faster
than the black gold powering
the world, and neither of us
has invested enough in
an alternative. My strength
for this routine is failing,
and even the smallest piece
of peace seems beyond my reach.
Ross Walsh [he/him/sé/é] is a Wexford-born journalist and writer based in Dublin, Ireland. He has written for The Irish Times and Al Jazeera, and his creative work has previously been published in several anthologies and magazines. He can be found on Twitter at @RossWalshJourno