Unfortunately, It's Only Once a Week

 

 

Unfortunately, It’s Only Once a Week

 It’s Thursday

That perfect ritual,

That wonderful religion

Comradery and

Practice

Or what one member calls appropriately,

Rehearsal

I’ll be singing with Kyle

Dan, Steve, and Jeff will be playing along with the style

Living one of the best kinds of living, all the while,

Until it ends

It’s Friday

Long hours and winding down with more than movies

It’s Saturday

With my better half, the music is pumping, and there’s beer, wine, and chips

And then pizza, TV, comfy cozy clothes, and extra sleep

It’s Sunday

Stuck between missing Saturday and dreading tomorrow

It’s Monday

Stuck between work and a hard place

I’ll never get out of this hole

They’ll tell me to put my head down and push through

It’s Tuesday

I’m lonely and

They’re wrong

Push through for what?

Told I was losing my mind

All because I asked, “Push through how?”

But more importantly, I initially missed

Push through for who?

It’s Wednesday

Push through to where?

The memories come pouring out as if a shoebox had burst

Old friends leave without goodbyes

Not a question of if but a question of when

What’s drawing me back?

It’s Thursday

That perfect ritual,

That wonderful comradery

Practice

 

Mitchell Flanagan



Mitchell Flanagan is an artist, writer, and musician from Newburgh, New York. His poems appeared in The Chronogram in August 2010 and December 2011. His work appeared in Ariel Chart in April 2020 and April and December 2021. In addition, he's working on a collection of short stories, novels, and poetry books. His band is Cold Heaven.