Taxes, groceries, maintenance
of appliances;most nights, having to
close your eyes
and consciously will minutes
and seconds to pass
They say
it could be so much
worse than that—
that it’s more like a limp handshake
or stiff kiss than a curse
to have so many painless
choices, it hurts.
They say that, after all,
you’re so much better off
than a medieval subsistence farmer
toiling in the rows.
toiling in the rows.
And as far
as you know, that’s
more or less true—but
even so: back then, boiling
in the summer
sun or blaspheming at
the frozen ground,
at least one
sun or blaspheming at
the frozen ground,
at least one
found—six days
out of seven—one knew
what one was supposed
to do.
