Pause For Poetry:
Michael Hawkes /97

A Reality Check

December 5, 2025

A poem by Michael Hawkes

Reality’s painful, or else it’s delightful,
anything other we tend to ignore.

When it’s unpleasant it really is frightful,
when checking the facts doesn’t help anymore,

‘tho when it concurs with the mood of the moment
we all want to buy it and keep some in store.

But because it’s an abstract intangible notion
it gets all mixed up with thought and emotion
and then comes to rest as a knot in one’s core,

there to be loosened or pulled on and tightened
leaving one strangled, entangled, or vaguely enlightened,
but not any closer to knowing the score.

02/09/22

Feature image: Ahmed Akacha – Pexels

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