Outsourcing

I had an idea recently. “Genius!”
I thought. I would disassemble the factory
Of myself, break it all down and 
Ship the most valuable parts to
Some other places. To do this, I had
To carefully detach each wire
And bolt, and secretly unscrew me 
From me, as not to grab anyone’s 
Attention or curiosity. For example,
While my foot was asleep, I sent
All of my memories south. While
My scalp prickled with beads of sweat,
I sent my love north to cool, and later 
While my brain was entranced with 
Commercials on television, I sent those 
Mysterious 21 grams of my soul, that I
Read about in Time Magazine, straight 
Out of this world—Way further than Mexico, 
China, Pakistan or anywhere anyone has ever 
Heard of. Gone—Vanished—just like that!

I had an idea recently. “Genius!”
I thought. I would disassemble the factory
Of myself, break it all down and 
Ship the most valuable parts to
Some other places. To do this, I had
To carefully detach each wire
And bolt, and secretly unscrew me 
From me, as not to grab anyone’s 
Attention or curiosity. For example,
While my foot was asleep, I sent
All of my memories south. While
My scalp prickled with beads of sweat,
I sent my love north to cool, and later 
While my brain was entranced with 
Commercials on television, I sent those 
Mysterious 21 grams of my soul, that I
Read about in Time Magazine, straight 
Out of this world—Way further than Mexico, 
China, Pakistan or anywhere anyone has ever 
Heard of. Gone—Vanished—just like that!

When all was said and done, very little
Of the old me was left. Yes, I had my
Ever growing fingernails and toenails,
The occasional annoying hidden body rashes 
Here and there, and of course plenty of those 
Middle-aged hairs growing in my ears and nose. 
But the substance? What was the substance anyway?

Suddenly it occurred to me the other day 
That when I gave all of me away, what 
Remained was just another abandon factory, 
And that’s no way to run a life—

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© Copyright, 2012, M. L. Liebler .
All rights reserved.