Diet of Carp

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i woke up in earnest,
the day set before me—

carpe diem…

or is it the Diet of Carp?—
worm on a hook—
fish swim in to school me

crap all the same.

i’m the butt of the joke
in a club full of jokers,

ego strokers,
denial smokers,
delusion tokers.

culpably high—floating
on their own clouds

of complacency.

POET’S NOTE:
Part of The Thinking Dark collection.

© 2026 Tristan Robert Lange. All rights reserved.