Broker’s Pick
Ann Gibson

Photo Credit: Florian Lehmuth/Flickr (CC-by-sa)

Present in the moment, listening,
attentive to everything that’s said.
Tell me and I’ll remember, input sticks;
who’s doing what, whether I should show.

Minutiae weigh heavy in the head;
brain brims with details, circuits clog.
Keeping track takes its tangled toll,
no space left for flippancy or fun.

You chat, chew the fat with friends,
can’t recall anything you hear;
pay no heed to scuppered lucky chances,
meetings missed, appointments double-booked,
plans thwarted by your absent mind—
I envy you your Teflon, sieve-based brain.

Ann Gibson spent her childhood in Dublin and now lives in North Yorkshire, UK. She has published poetry in Acumen, Prole, Obsessed with Pipework, Dream Catcher, Orbis, The Poets’ Republic, and various anthologies. Her poetry has also appeared online in The High Window, Algebra of Owls, Lighten Up Online, Snakeskin, Ofi Press Magazine and The Ekphrasis Review. Email: annjmgibson[at]gmail.com