(domain)

You say you want
me to write,
of course, and you
don’t know you
don’t mean it.
Write yes, it keeps
me off the streets
and out of your way –
but succeed is
another matter.
By which I mean
fulfill myself,
feel satisfied in
my life, so that
I may not stop
when you come
in the room,
have any domain
which is my own,
where you can’t
leave your books
& papers piled about,
your shoes & socks
strewn about the floor,
your clothes dropped
where you took them
off.

2/6/99