but today I will put on my shoes

and walk until I am gone

away from the chatter the back and forth

the busy rumble of any town

walk through the trail with its trees and birds

quieter sounds but noise even so

walk until I have disappeared into stillness

one step then another then no more

the cup shattered on the floor

one sharp fragment in my hand

its celadon slightly tinged with red

in silence I pour tea over the scards

then kneel amongst the wet debris

and with the heavy tetsubin’s base

smash each piece into dust

no kintsugi dreams this day

pacing with quick steps

here to this task then away before it’s begun

talking in jittery sentences

about this but no this and then this instead

missed deadlines forgotten meetings

schedules entirely gone awry

this worry a constant frantic scrum

yet only a surface scribble

the skull grins fleshless in the mirror

we cannot bear to look