To Think Straight

by John Herlihy

All day long I haven't been able to think straight,

The hours fly by without a single moment to wait.

I have waited all my life, the waiting now done,

Every stitch of my weft and woof now finally spun.

The moment waited for has oh so finally arrived,

All the minutes, hours, days that I mercilessly strived.

I am now on my way to attend this momentous event,

After all of my efforts have been industriously spent.

For years I went about things always thinking crooked,

Many thoughts spilled forth that came across as wicked.

Now I can no longer think straight even if I wanted,

The sweet anticipation lost among thoughts haunted.

I stand beside myself with this feeling of being oh so excited,

Feeling as if a butterfly had just upon my finger alighted.

This not thinking straight seems like a stranger most kind,

Flooding like a broken dam through the corridors of my mind.

Suddenly right there in my dream I began to think straight,

In the dream, time has stopped forcing me once again to wait.

Of course, our lives still go moving in and outside of time,

The waiting beginning to feel like a poetic rhyme.

Still wandering thru my mind, thoughts crooked and straight,

All the while, I see in the distance, a mirage of an open gate.

- - - -

Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 15 November 2025