How to Overcome Inertia
by Betsy Mars
Set an alarm. Don’t hit snooze.
Set more alarms
at fifteen minute intervals.
Let your phone fall beneath the bed
where it can’t easily be silenced.
You have to reach to quiet it.
Doze off while thinking
of ways to overcome your inertia.
Encourage the cat to sleep on your bladder.
Remember you are nothing
if not productive.
Forget the bird beyond the pane
unaware of your watching.
Feel the urgency of days and news
forever passing without observing.
Scroll your mind’s endless listing
awaiting scratching. Check
your time, just existing.
IMAGE: Still Life with Sleeper by Henri Matisse (1940).
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I thought about what I have gotten really good at during the pandemic and came up with the obvious answer: inertia! Of course, while practicing inertia so effectively, it was difficult to write. And then how to describe the how-to’s of inertia? Other than a blank page, which wouldn’t be very instructive, I strained to describe my techniques in a way I hoped could be replicated. I hope that you find them helpful!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Betsy Mars practices poetry, photography, pet maintenance, and publishes an occasional anthology through Kingly Street Press. Her second anthology, Floored, is now available on Amazon. “Pyriscence” was a winner in Alexandria Quarterly´s first line poetry contest series in 2020, and she was a finalist in both the Jack Grapes and Poetry Super Highway poetry contests. Her work has recently appeared in Verse-Virtual, Sky Island Journal, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, and Sheila-Na-Gig, among others. She is the author of Alinea (Picture Show Press) and co-author of In the Muddle of the Night with Alan Walowitz, coming soon from Arroyo Seco Press. Visit her at marsmyst.wordpress.com and on Facebook and Twitter.
Silver Birch Press 
Really enjoyed this, Betsy.
Thank you so much, Maria. I am very happy to hear that.
Just LOVE it, Besty.
Thank you, Rosemary! I always appreciate hearing that from you, especially as I am such a fan of your writing.
Reblogged this on Becoming is Superior to Being and commented:
I like this poem, however, overcoming inertia is not a problem with which I live. I always keep busy, sometimes just reading or listening to music. Maybe I should write a poem, “How to Overcome Drive.” — kenne
Thanks, Kenne! I love that you reblogged it – that’s very kind, and also funny because, in actuality, despite my inertia (which is mostly a product of the pandemic), I am really a compulsive “doer,” just learning the value of stillness and that I don’t actually need to be busy all the time to justify my existence haha. I look forward to getting some tips from yours!
I love the poem. But I’ve been sitting here all day and couldn’t figure out how to say it.
Haha — let me guess — cat on the bladder? Thank you, AJ.
I think the cat on the bladder is genius. Would definitely work!!!
If only my cat would cooperate! He tends to alternate between my feet, bladder, and head, and can’t be convinced to follow the schedule.