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Guides to the Unconscious

1
The floaters in my eyes
are shooting stars -
intricate constellations
I can enjoy
while grocery shopping
doing laundry
meditating
on the plight of recyclables.
Friends have suggested
listing them on eBay
as guides
to the unconscious.

2
A Pilates practitioner
on the evening news
recommends
immersion
as a guide to the unconscious.
Lean in to your work.
Break the bottlenecks.
Find a safe harbor
for your button collection.
Embrace unnecessary gestures
if necessary.
Read a book
from cover to cover.
In either direction.

3
Spending a day
on the windowsill
was once thought to be
a fairly reliable guide
to the unconscious.
I had a dream
that Freud wrote
The Interpretation of Dreams
while smoking a cigar
on a windowsill
in Vienna.

4
I’ve started hanging out
with navel oranges
and a belly dancer.
She uses finger foods
as guides to the unconscious.
It’s got me thinking
about shutter speeds
and house salads
and a half-brother
I never had.

5
Eighty-three point five percent
of Americans
reported searching
for guides to the unconscious
last year.
People streaming through turnstiles
half-walking
half-running
trying to avoid
the pitfalls of anagrams,
the loneliness
of buttonholes.
Day after day.
Little warning.

6
I’ve mentioned my interest
in guides to the unconscious
to my co-workers
who seem uninterested
or more interested
in the water spots
on their annotated
coffee mugs.

7
Did you expect this so-called poem
on guides to the unconscious?
Did you expect your croquet balls to vanish
willy-nilly?