Decaffeinated soldiers

The local barista, off collaboratively mourning the death of some concept,
left only a dark café of lonely chairs to disappoint
the impromptu parade of tired morning souls.

Not a granule of Arabica or French Roast
touched a drop of hot water.

No flavor infusion occurred
to produce the hot motivation that normally drives the regulars

to the ergonomically fitted chair in the skyscraper,
to the hospital with its foundation
of white bread, adrenaline, blood and balloons,
to the university and the factory, to the pointy white church.

They scattered across the city like misshapen marbles,
bumping and clacking against the caffeinated,
making them burn their hands.

A moment of personal experience in code: A beginning attempt to define variables

Var Situation (string) = “details of the current situation; this variable contains yet-to-be-codified sub-variables (e.g., SituationType)”

Var ChosenCourse (string) = “my chosen course of action”

Var InitialPerceivedRelevanceWeight (number) = “an intuitive p-value assigned by me to describe the relationship between PastExperience and CurrentSituation using ConceptualMath”

Var CurrentDecision (string) = “the details of the current decision as presented to me; this includes details elicited by the via information gathering from all external sources”

Var PastExperience (string) = “A past experience or unit of learned information called to mind when I am faced with CurrentSituation”

Varset ConceptualMath (operation) = “a set unknown equations based upon unknown rules containing unexpressed and/or confounding variables that I use to adjust variables based upon other variables, with or without my conscious awareness”

Var AdjustedPerceivedRelevanceWeight (number) = “InitialPerceivedRelevanceWeight adjusted for ConfidenceInMyPerception using ConceptualMath”

                                Var ConfidenceInMyPerception (number) = “a value between -1 and 1 assigned by me to describe my confidence in my own perception based upon ConfidenceInOthers, Mood, Restfulness, Health and other variables to be defined"

Eventually, I gain traction

I want to write about the difference
between furniture in a store
and in a house, furniture that is found,
that is built, that is intimately understood,
that is newly acquired, that has withstood

rainstorms on a deck, or in the cold.

I beat myself silly with context.
I parse the premises of appropriate conduct
down to a second of situation
and stand thinking of what to do next
as aproned you buzzes past with a bowl

for smoking, having baked three pies
already, and pontificated somewhere
about things of a social nature -
which ignites such bull-headed passion in you,
which ignites such passion in me,
which ignites you.

This is how I pay attention.