Why not write
Because the baby is crying,
the bath water runs,
lettuce waits to be washed,
your toddler yells for you to wipe.
Or an old vet phones, please won’t you help?
or it’s the Good News shelter needing you
to scrape the dishes
and throw away the trash.
There’s a bottle, scotch that’ll make your teeth grow hair
like weeds sprouted in the garden.
Maybe you’re just too polluted
or not buzzed enough;
all you can think of are butterflies
and that’s so pathetic.
Your stock is at an all time low,
And you’re not talking about investments.
Maybe it’s all a Ponzi scheme that needs a few more suckers.
An airplane sits on the tarmac
or a train from downtown arrives in just 15 minutes,
so you’ll just think about things a while.
Episode 1 is at the movies, no forget that,
because there’s a good poem to read,
a letter to write to your congressperson,
some hems to sew,
or a PTA meeting to attend.
You can put it off
for just one more day
because you can’t find your keys,
your diaphragm, your Citibank Visa,
whatever you’ll make for dinner.
Your favorite author is reading at the bookstore tonight
and your son’s hamster just died,
little claws clutching the cage.
Because it is snowing and you must shovel
or the grass is just so long
or the leaves are there, mushing up the lawn
or the drain is clogged and the plumber’s on his way.
Maybe you should sell the house.
Or perhaps it’s menopause or maybe you’re ovulating
or your meds just aren’t doing the trick
and you’ve gotten another call from school.
Maybe it’s all so damn depressing
like nothing matters.
It’s the beginning of the end
or the end of the beginning–
why not write?
© Ellen Wade Beals, 2006
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