Am I…

Am I relaxing or wasting time?

Who names my act,
you out there or I?


There is the laundry: 2 piles  on the bedroom floor

one darks , one whites, waiting patiently, I might add,

to be washed; their very presence a bore.


There  are dust bunnies of doggie fur

lurking in the corners—hoping for sunlight

to reveal themselves to me—yet I defer.


Dishes to wash—usually a satisfactory task—

sit and sulk in the sink.  The peanut butter

caking; milk painting the bottom of the glass.


I know they are there.

They mount up like ghosts around me

ceaselessly hovering in the air.


The stacks of paper all about call out.  

Read me! Sort me! File me!

I can hear the rustling sound of credit card bills.


Messages to reply, couched on my computer

and the smart fone silently cries: answer all of me!

Really, must I?


It is my mind that listens and decides

I am wanton,  a bad girl…

I should, I could, I ought.


Reset, breathe, let this laziness be my choice,

the frame of the puzzle of my life;

the edge that holds “to do” in place.


I am the namer.  So be it that today

I rest in refreshing stillness

not a naughty willingness to run away.

Occupy Rochester January 2012

Occupy tent village

I think those little Occupy tents are so cute.

The whole thing gives me a little giggle.

An outpost in the middle of the city--

Tidy signs posted along the commuters’ route.

Canvases tied to trees and tethered to the earth,

The symbolism is too much to bear: 

Little soldiers shabbily sheltered against the elements;

Little Robin Hoods demanding recompense for our true worth.

What are they thinking, the 1%?  Do they care?

Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Rochester, Occupy my couch.

The 1% is greedy, of that there is no doubt,

And the 1% is not concerned with what is fair.

My dad said people give for very personal reasons. 

Does the 99% need to provide the 1% a reason to give?

To provide the 1% a reason to do business differently?

Because now, what they do, seems like treason.

To the 1%, Occupy is like an ant under a tank tread. 

And the 1% actually pays taxes and donates to needy.

It just doesn’t pay enough or donate enough--

Because it’s not in the 1%’s job description to share.

So, if the greedy 1% will not change of it’s own will ,

What does that leave the lowly 99% to do besides Occupy?

We must change the rules of the game, carve up the mighty 1%’s pie!.

Reform the regulations! Revise the laws! Write a bill!

Oh my goodness! This is turning into work.

Camping and marching sounds ever so much easier.

But can 99 of us change the will of 1 legislator?

Is it a responsibility that the 99% can not shirk?

It’s a daunting task to vote them in or vote them out.

If only we did not feel like ants under tank treads.

If only we felt powerful, if only we believed in change.

Perhaps we do, those darn tents are so cute.