Tristan Robert Lange

Diet of Carp

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.

First published on tristanrobertlange.com, May 18, 2026.

Tittu