Wake Up
Albert woke up.
He put coffee into the coffee maker. He put water in the coffee pot. He turned the coffeemaker on. He went to work.
Albert came home, ate a frozen dinner, watched TV, and then went to sleep.
Albert woke up.
He put coffee into the coffeemaker. He put water in the coffee pot. He turned the coffeemaker on.
Albert woke up.
He put coffee into the coffeemaker. He put water in the coffee pot. He turned the coffeemaker on. He went to work, came home, and went to sleep.
He woke up. The coffeemaker was already on and brewing coffee.
He woke up. The coffeemaker was in bed with him. He got up, went to work, came home, and went to sleep.
Albert woke up.
He put coffee into the coffeemaker. He put water in the coffee pot. He turned the coffeemaker on. He turned the coffeemaker off. He turned it on again. He fell asleep.
He turned the coffeemaker on again.
He woke up. He turned the coffeemaker on. He woke up. He turned the coffeemaker on. He turned the coffeemaker off. He turned it on again. He woke up. He turned the coffeemaker off. He turned the coffeemaker off again. The coffeemaker wouldn’t turn off no matter how many times he flipped the button.
He unplugged the coffeemaker.
Albert woke up.
A mug of coffee was sitting on the nightstand. He drank it. He fell asleep.
He turned the coffeemaker on.
Albert woke up.
He thought he had turned the coffee maker on, but then remembered that he had only done that in a dream, so he went to turn it on. But it was on already.
Albert woke up.
 AARON DIETZ is the author of Super, a novel from Emergency Press about commitment, crisis, paperwork, and heartbreak. Dietz’s super powers include a high metabolism and the ability to put things back where he got them. He’s also pretty good at math. As an instructional designer, Dietz has written online high school courses on computer programming, green design, and 3-D video game creation. He’s also been paid to count traffic and once failed a personality test.
Dietz writes for TheNervousBreakdown.com, blogs at aarondietz.us, and is an advisory editor of KNOCK Magazine. |
Copyright © 2011 by Aaron Dietz
Randomly Accessed Poetics 
I’d say you were Albert but few eat their frozen dinners from a bowl. The best way to put things back where they belong is leave them there in the first place.
I like how this poem lays out on the page Aaron. And the more I read it, the more I see in it. I’m glad you read it last August in Uptown and I’m glad I go the chance to hear you read it.