Chris Wood

Uncompleted 

Mostly, I make lists; some numbered
some with bullets—all sorts.
I put checkmarks next to completed
items. Later, I’ll put a circle around
my checkmark and then another, bigger
circle around that circle and slowly

shade it in while drinking coffee
and smoking heavily; staring steadily
at my glorious list. Never a completed
object, unless it leafs an offspring
a smaller list that’s lost a few things
from turning pages and has yet to

gain the elaborate shading of time.
Time, spent contemplating its most
important objects. An underline enters
the equation and suddenly it has grown
into a page revisited, now there’s a doodle
in the left hand margin; a tattoo that reads:

I was here, without having to say it outright
and older items start to show up from the
patriarchal pages. He becomes a list of many
past lists; revealing patterns and renewed
beginnings. Patiently waiting for that final
moment when nothing will appear on his

list, and then other hands will form a faded
circle that surround this faithful checkmark
and all-together singing, slowly—shade it in.

 


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Chris Wood is a life-long resident of the Hudson Valley region of New York State where he hosts and participates in various music and literary events. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Heyday Magazine, occasionally sleeps a few hours every other Thursday, converses with woodland creatures, and enjoys devouring deep poetry and coffee.