Joo'

I place my ear to the side of the metal bed frame

Wait

Listen

Focus on the clanging that reverbrates between the poles

Trying to find the secrets hidden within

Like the rolls stuffed inside

Filling the hollowness with money

A dream of too many

But instead I hear a clearness

Emptiness

Just a heartbeat too fast trying to pour sound into the nothingness

My clothes feeling too tight

Skin itchy

Stomach beginning its nightly whine

Knowing that no matter how often I check

I will still feel the hunger gnawing at my insides

Reminding me that we are all prisoners to this regime

One that suffocates our minds with headlines and black air

Our charger cord the handcuffs chaining us to the metal bed frame

As we wait, listen, try to focus on something that might give us a smidge of salvation from this embarrassment

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Big shout out to my PapaBear Jim for doing an impromptu writing session with me.

For this super random prompt, we were given 6 random words to weave into a poem, story, prose, or whatever. But only FIVE minutes to stream write. These were the words we got: bed / ear / embarrassment / money / clothes / fast.

And yes, this was written in 5 minutes.