Juggling Jars

Juggling Jars

juggling jars is my job now

each filled with a need

precious and changing

requiring focus and speed

exercise diet

sleep hygiene and meds

education research

watching each foot where it treads

I look at my calendar

and what do I see

a day filled with life jars

to preserve just a semblance of me

juggling jars

high above my head

vigilant attention

staving off dread

don’t drop don’t spill

don’t hesitate don’t waver

distraction and overwhelm

plot to foil each caper

sometimes I fumble

a jar hits hard with a splat

my soufflé has fallen

its finished oh drat

Netflix (a questionable savior)

holds my place in line

while my brain reconfigures

a jury-rigged design

then I rearrange the lineup

to face what’s left of the day

to be a mere mortal

who hopes dreams and plays

each morning before sunrise

I ponder my fate

then pick up those damn jars

and start to rotate