(The poet spent the year of 2018 living and working in a tent)
*****
There have been many reasons not to work
Every day, since this website I began
Surely bodily pain enough to shirk
Any activity some other than
Relaxation and rest a soft bed in
Until some of this soreness pass away
Before mental contortions I begin
In order give the Muse abundant play
There have been many nights I saw my breath
And many afternoons I streamed with sweat
Banished from love further away than death
As miserable as a soul can get
Without it altogether homeless be
Or behind bars small misdemeanor for
Or locked up with unwanted elderly
Conditions any true heart must deplore
Though all these threatened closely, all the same
Humiliation merest children from
And insult, lower and beyond the name
From forth relatives, strangers had become
The constant din of traffic, night and day
For months, at one place that I pitched my tent
Only at harried long last giving way
A few days, upon relocation bent
And once, I was so desperately ill
Too much so as to even raise my head
Procure my victuals, nay, rise
Up from the blanket that I called a bed
As each disaster overtakes the peace
I struggle harder maintain focus to
Driven to write and post without surcease
While I still have opportunity to
Reach out unfettered to my fellow man
Ay, spread these truths of love over the land
Freely, by no additional means than
Uncensored poesy from this true hand
Who knows what each tomorrow next will bring?
Who knows if that tomorrow come at all?
Who certain but that this planet’s next swing
Around the sun see humanity’s fall
To wars of wealth, ravages of disease
Or earth upheaving underneath the feet?
Behoove me this creative chance to seize,
This outstretched hand of destiny to meet
Aye, not to work there many reasons be
Procrastination admirably fit
In all this life, one open door I see
And I am racing to pass into it
The poet/editor of this website is physically disabled, and lives at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level. Contributions may be made at:
Timeless Classics 