A DAY IN THE LIFE

I stare into
   A cold digital abyss

Counting the hours
   Before the alarm

Buried under the weight
   Of the day yet to come

Fighting the clock for a
   Few precious moments

Of my own damn time
   Poured steaming into a

Mug of instant coffee
   Crystals dissolving the

Thick mud of my consciousness
   So I can sharpen the words

I’ve already poured out
   To be honed and ready

For the alter, an offering
   To strangers I know so well

Then it’s time to
   Put on the day’s tired clothes

And sculpt my hair from
   The faucet’s cold water

Throw food in my bag, banana
   Apple, peanut butter, ephemera

Nourishment to balance the
   Thousand or so calories

I’ll burn like paper
   In 10,000 steps all lit and fiery

I may even have a bite of breakfast
   To clean the foam of fluoride

Rush to my car
  Cruising 90 MPH at 4:30 AM

To arrive by 5:00 and
   Begin the day’s labor anew

I put in 11 hours
   4 times a week

Plus another 4 hours
   Depending on how broke

Or frisky I am
   The details are meaningless

I use my body and mind
   In equal measure

And I have a few comrades
   But that’s all I’ll say

At 4:30 the klaxon sounds
   It’s howl like

The trumpets that
    Fell Jericho’s walls

I drive to a podcast
   For the ½ hour journey home

A time of peace and solitude
   Before my key clicks the door

Then it’s “Dada home,”
   “Hi, Daddy,” “Hey, Johnny,”

I see the people
   I work so hard for

And keep working
   To finish the stove’s dinner

We eat together
   A four plate circus

Conquer Wordle next
  Our 6 year old types the letters

TV for the kids, phone scrolling for us
   You know, family time

Bedtime is 6:30 (hey, they
   Get up at 5:00)

Stories first, tales of peace
   Then the Sandman nurses them

At last our time
   To chill and actually

Be with each other
   To see ourselves with

Whole hearts for an entire
  Hour or so

I love us