Two hours passed.

All that was heard was

The conversation exchanged between

My foot and the floor,

The response of my stomach to

The exclusion of dinner,

And the displacement of sounds

Coming from my aging clock

And the motion of my fan.

My paper was blank.

Besides the video tab that stopped

Loading an hour ago,

The Facebook tab that had all

But two notifications left untouched,

A cart full of purchases

Bought on impulse,

And a playlist set on pause,

Minimized below the screen

Was the paper that would

Determine a final pass or fail.

I had nothing.

The unfinished title that

Appeared on my computer

Put me in a state of discomfort.

My thoughts appeared as

A distant memory,

Too faint to be retrieved by

The conscious mind.

I was disconnected from reality,

Unable to explain the

Controversy of race in society,

A common topic

Yet,

A rare story that I couldn’t seem

To express in a way

That could be understood.

My mind is troubled.

Still,

The clock read 12:30 A.M.

This paper has satisfied nothing but

Vacant thoughts and uncertainty.

If there’s nothing more I can give,

Let my creative talent

Converse with these keys

And translate this resentment  into substance.

If I can just

Close this gap between

My imagination and this paper,

This dream can turn to reality

And this worry won’t

Be left emptied handed.

Where must I start?

I couldn’t seem to find the beginning

To this desired end,

No thoughts

That sparked an image of interest.

I was tempted to revisit

Or ‘check up’ on those opened tabs.

My mind wondered with the

Display of accentuated colors of

Advertisements and comments

Crowding the margins of the screen.

My Facebook inbox had been

Infested with unanswered conversations,

Most of which I identified as spam

Or faces I had no interest in attending to.

I then wondered off to the tab that followed.

The video had made little progress.

The urge to continue the first season

Was interrupted by various popups

Accompanied by “play now”

And “share” icons.

Further distractions led me

Back to the cart full of items.

A pair of Mary Jane shoes,

A dress,

Too stunning for a causal occasion,

Countless blouses,

And a few miscellaneous items

Flooded my purchase summary.

The items hadn’t met the

Minimum requirement to qualify

For the 50% discount,

But carried such value that would

Satisfy my shopping addiction.

I quickly shuffled between tabs

To reach my playlist.

A spectrum of genres were listed,

Carrying the latest jazz tones to

The eccentric sounds of soul singers.

At random,

I clicked on a song.

‘Redemption Song’ by Bob Marley.

The song resulted in a daydream.

Words disguised as images

Transformed into thoughts,

Then translated into ideas.

These ideas responded with a voice,

A voice that told a story.

Time was shortened as the

Distance between pages widened.

I was on a high.

My gaze was lost in the center of the screen,

Insisting there was no time to rest.

A yawn didn’t give way to the sight of the

The sunset and the

 Sound of snoring neighbors.

 My ears turned deaf and the

Sound of the music grew faint.

My fingers had subjected itself

To my imagination,

An affair I had no choice but to accept.

The clock read 5 A.M.

I was finished.

No longer did this paper occupy blank space.

A field of words presented itself

In such way that was distinct from the rest.

My worried mind had been rewarded with peace.

Without regret,

I pressed

‘Submit.’