Automatic Pilot

I don’t know if your mind
Works this way,
But my brain is forever trying
To map out a way
It can sleep on the job.
It tries to find a routine,
In the things I do,
An excuse not to think,
So that it can
Switch into automatic pilot
The first chance it gets.
It seems to enjoy
Stealing momentary
Leaves of absence,
And sometimes those moments
Extend for a while.
I have noticed that the first time
I go someplace new,
Or do something different,
Every one of my senses
Are on heightened alert,
But after a time or two,
My sensory awareness
Virtually shuts down
As my mind switches into automatic.
The act of driving
Is a prime example.
I can be driving along
And suddenly notice
That I have driven
The last half hour
And have no recollection
Of any of that time
Or anything I passed.
My brain has mastered
The art of driving
While it remains in park.
Occasionally my brain
Will lock on a repetitive pattern
With absurd effect.
One time on my way
To get my car serviced,
My brain fixated itself
Onto my normal route
And I missed my turnoff,
Turned back,
And missed it again
Three more times
Before I finally was able to make
The appropriate turn.
That brain of mine
Has me miss a lot of life.
I may drive down a path
A hundred times or more,
Practically oblivious
To anything along the path I take,
Then all of a sudden,
I will wake up for a moment
And see something,
That may been there all along,
But I never noticed before.
My mind would have me
Go through life
In automatic pilot
If I would let it.
Hopefully your mind is different!