My life is a whirlwind/a pattern of zigs and zags/a Rubik’s cube puzzle/and I don’t know how many twists and turns/I need too make before/all my colors match/on all four sides

I cannot stop/to ponder what I should do next/and yet my mind keeps telling me/to slow things down/but I have to pick up the kids from school/and I have to make dinner/and I have to finish my article/and I have to prepare for tomorrow’s presentation/and I need to lay out my clothes

Sleep doesn’t come willingly/because I lie awake wondering if the lights work/when I wake up in the darkness and flip/the switch/will my babies be able to watch Ready Set Learn/or will the unpaid cable bill produce white snow on the screen

I know somebody else knows how it feels/to play “let’s pretend we’re on a camping adventure”/after you’ve seen the pink/red/yellow/or orange notice in the door jamb/and you realize you forgot to pay that bill/and you thank God above that your kids can’t read yet/because you don’t want them to feel ashamed/like you

And these thoughts keep running/ through my mind/and I feel like I’m about to go insane/if one more muthafucka tells me /how much of a strong black woman I am/cause shit, I’m tired/but it ain’t just me I gotta worry about/so I have no option but to press on

Do you know what it’s like/to be in fear of parking your car at the store/and wondering will it be there when you get back/not because of high crime/but because of the third late payment?/And what would your Mama say if she knew/you were living this way?/ I mean, you’re/I’m/supposed to be grown/but man, this adult shit is hard

People are in such a rush to be grown/but when they truly experience life in an adult's content/they revert back to child-like tendencies/then there are those of us who realize/there is no /going/back