Meniere’s

The shell in my ear

the conch that sings distraction,

distrust

reminds me I don’t know what’s out there

where’s up, where’s down

only what’s thinking,

I’m thinking, that’s how I perceive,

apperceive that sinking

into language, truth, logic is best avoided

by climbing the tree

that sprouted in the corner of my mind

when I first believed.

Phillip Barron is author of The Outspokin' Cyclist and editor of the new journal, OccuPoetry.  A southerner — of the American South and South America — he stays in northern California, where he works in the digital humanities. He previously taught philosophy at the Chapel Hill and Greensboro campuses of the University of North Carolina.