(goodstuff)

Do the good
stuff first
is my motto,
which seems to
to justify
dessert before peas.
In case I die
I’d hate to miss
the coconut cream.
Truth is,
we never have
pie.
It’s just practical,
I fill myself
with what I want
to do, which gives
me the life
to do all the
rest.

But if I reverse
the formula,
forcing myself
to complete
necessities
and obligations
first,
I never get
any further.
I use up
my life
scrubbing
and shopping,
and never get
to what is
mine.

It’s a simple
truth, but one
we’re never
told –
and so drift
further
and further
down the drain
of good intentions,
sucked dry,
angry
at the repetitive
quality of life,
forgetting that that is what sustains
it, when what
we meant
was that it
kept getting
dirty.

Another thing
they didn’t say,
when they led
us to believe
we’d get it done,
not that we’d
always be doing
it. But doing
it is all there is,
so I do the
good stuff
first.

1/30/99