morning hangs heavy
saturated 
warm;
my preoccupations
palpable
even to the
tiny creatures 
of the suburban 
understory,
what with their
fluttering
scurrying 
pecking
-tsk tsk tsk-
red bird yellow bird
buzzing bird
fat bird;
the staccato worrying
of my coffee companions
much more 
immediate
much more
essential
than the 
muddled
muggy smear 
that knits across
the width of
my forehead
my curse
of higher
evolution
consternation
we spend our lives 
trying to escape it
with dollars 
and distractions
(maybe we can 
out-party it
out-sweat it
outrun it
outwit it)
no no no,
taps the 
woodpecker
rattling his
perfectly simple 
unencumbered
birdbrain,
silly humans
there is no thinking 
away the thinking.