a bill not paid
a leaky faucet
a hang-up call
another failed Lotto ticket

milk gone sour
a beautiful woman
a traffic jam
a parking ticket

another rejection slip
a paper cut
a razor cut
a field goal wide right

another work day
another day
indigestion
constipation

a torn shirt
an ingrown hair
a dog shitting on your lawn
the long line at the bank

mixed pieces in the random puzzle
designed to make you mad

forget war
death
cancer
a heart attack

we prepare for these disasters all our lives
it’s the small daily tragedies
that make madmen of us all.

*Inspired by Charles Bukowski, who
wrote about how the untied shoelace
can drive us crazy.