Only in grammar
can you guarantee
a past, present, and future
that is perfect.
I have had my share
of that perfection,
but yesterday,
the verbs were restless.
Some sprouted –ings
and flew around the room
as nouns
as if flying were a thing
to be desired.
The rest,
tired of being active,
pulled on their participles
and just stood there,
describing things.
Some of the nouns,
envious of all the action,
broke into a dictionary
grabbed suffixes willy-nilly
and put them on like tails
to strut among the verbs
symbolizing
something.
So many things were
happening,
And while much of it
was clearly progressive,
I sat in that hubbub
and longed for my
simple past.