What makes me tick?

 

The things that tick me off.

 

The loose hair that’s tickling the back of my arm

The last bit of toothpaste that won’t come out of the tube

The fact that the toast makes me jump every time it pops out of the toaster

The last few unpopped kernels at the bottom of the bag

The streak the windshield wiper leaves

The times you open up the freezer and there’s only one bit of ice cream left

The remaining marks the teacher forgets to erase on the board

The yellow starbursts

The unnecessary and outdated phys ed requirement

The start of school out of sync with teenage biorhythms

The tests that test test-taking ability, not intelligence

The intolerance, the judgment

The unbalanced salaries of men and women

The sex trade in underdeveloped countries

The lack of separation between church and state

The laws against same-sex marriage

The laws against abortion

The lack of laws against discrimination

 

The things that tick me off,

 

Are the things that make me tick.

 

They’re the things I want to change.