Spent my twenties in the penalty box,
arms and legs crossed,
bulldog wrinkle between my eyes,
staring at the older ref who
singled me out,
wheat beer depressed,
everything blacked out,
willing my biological clock
to countdown,
hoping it would run out.
Watching the the game go on,
knees twitching,
plotting my exit route.
Spent my twenties shouting plays
I could never orchestrate,
canned food casseroles,
and ramen noodles,
difficult to masturbate.
Reading books I’d soon flatulate,
pep-talking myself on the bench,
bullying the enemy,
caught on a technicality,
so now I’d have to sit this season
of life out.
Spent my twenties in the sin bin,
fuming,
waiting for an ejection,
further from scoring,
further from maturing,
further from desire,
winded,
waiting for
the whole damn decade to expire.
© 2022 | K.Hartless
Inspired by a KurtVonnegut quote:
“Any man can call timeout, but no man can say
how long that timeout will be.”Cat’s Cradle
Yard Sale of Thoughts 
My twenties were crazy in many ways, too much young energy! I feel your confusion.
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Thank you, John. Yes, it was a time ripe with possibility, but in my case much of it left to rot. It was fun to write about with the humor that comes with time passed. 🙂
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I let way too many opportunities slide by in those years (the 1980s) and I still regret it, K. 😵💫😭
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Can definitely empathise with this! Plenty of folks reminisce about that ‘golden decade’ before life’s dreary monotony sets in by your 30s, but like yours most of my twenties seems to have flown by real fast. 😅 ⌛
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Yes, well, don’t sit any of it out, Tom. 💜 The guilty feelings are all in your head. 🤣
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I always thought twenties were about getting comfortable in my own skin.
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yeah, while sweating in a penalty box. ;0
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Oh yes, another relatable time, you tell it so well! 😉
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Thank you. It was such an awkward time. I don’t know why, I was totally fit physically, but a real mess mentally, I suppose. 😉
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K… this is so good. SO brilliantly written!! And the pic perfect with it.
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Thank you. I really did spend too much time in the penalty box back then, but even more metaphorical.
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And the good news….. they’re over K!!!
💕❤️🙏
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Yes, indeed. Good reminder, Cindy. That decade is long gone, actually. I’m much better at following rules, although I secretly still don’t believe in them, 💜
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I loved the poetry dear K.Hartless. Hard to escape our self-made prisons.
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Yes, indeed. Those magnified chains on cave wall. Thank you so much for commenting on this one.
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You are welcome dear K.Hartless.
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Pass the shovel, it’s my turn to turn over the soil within. 😅 I love the way your words always come together, creating a feeling of wholeness, and paradoxically brokenness too. Happy weekend, K. 💜
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Thank you. It’s all that time in the penalty box that did it. 🤣 Reflection can be f fruitful, I guess.
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Penalty box, ah, yes, I get that. 😆 Youte welcome, K. Always.
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