A coffee mug.
A white coffee mug.
An off-white coffee mug,
An off-white coffee mug with a dark brown shell-shaped remnant inside.
An off-white coffee mug with a dark brown shell-shaped remnant inside surrounded by a lighter brown spiral.
                                     Spiral.
                                  Spiral.
Spiraling into slight sadness,
Spiraling into…wait.
Focus on the page of the spiral notebook.
Focus on the notes, the big picture, the sentences, the main details, the words themselves, focus on the spirals, the way they go around and around into a sense of nothingness, into the same place that you’ve started.
Start.
Start focusing on the spiral, the spiral inside the coffee mug.
Focus on the coffee mug.
Pick up the coffee mug and refill it with coffee.
Refill, Re-energize, refresh, refocus.
Refocus on your midterms, the middle of the rush to the end, end, end.
End.

Jacqueline Retalis