Clean Up

I spend a portion of my day cleaning up
the house, the kitchen when I cook,
the bookshelves or my closets,
my junk drawers, dresser drawers,
the fridge, the stove, the cabinet tops,
the floors, the porch, the pool, and me,
the garbage can, the sink and the baths.
I spend my days cleaning up.

I spend so much time cleaning out
the to-do file on my desk -
a poem a day at Robert’s bidding,
the poetry I need for the city archives,
the homework or critiquing for a poetry class,
work on several projects undone, paintings,
my knitting, my blogs, my writing group online,
my clubs,e-mail, family, Facebook, and friends.
There's birthdays, holidays, celebrations, too,
cards to send and thank you notes,
snail mail to write and gifts to wrap,
I spend so much time in my in-basket
it’s so hard to strike a balance in life.
April 7, 2009