the rat king

To kick off
registration
balloons were delivered;
to welcome people
and make them feel
good

In my haste, I grabbed them all,
at once
and they tangled
like
a rat king

At the doctor
next week
I will mention the mess
and he will shrug and tell me
to untwist them;
it wouldn't take long,
especially if I used a scalpel

What he didn't know
was that it was more than a twist;
and popping the balloons
left me with debris
and another year
of trying to undo
something else