Welcome to my latest exercise in an attempt to reach my goal of being a prolific writer in 2022. So, in addition to writing 1 short story each week ( Because Ray Bradbury said you can’t write 52 bad ones – challenge accepted!) I will be attempting to post an original poem each day in April. This is not going to be easy – I’ve not really written poetry since college. So, these will be thrown together each day and not very edited.

I can hear you now – sucky stories and bad poetry? Sign me up.

For more information about the blogging challenge, see http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/)

Five-year planner

Why is it that we expect, require even
Forever to be a defining quality of things in our lives
Of people in our lives
Of situations in our lives

(Okay, I say we, but not me
I pretty much expect everything to be gone tomorrow)

I call it the five-year-planner test
What would you do if I gave you a five-year-planner
Neat two by two boxes waiting for you to write, scribble, etch
The things you want to do and be each day
Because that is what the world teaches
You are what you do.

Boxes for birthdays and weddings
appointments, meetings, haircuts
Exams, tests, due dates.
Or boxes of emptiness
reminders of a once busy life now set aside.

The five-year-planner can make you laugh
— I won’t be in the job in five years
It can make you cry
when the diagnosis is six months
It can give you hope
— I won’t be in the place forever

The five-year planner can give so many things, ideas, dreams

But it cannot give you the time to do them