A day-off, yes, a day-off. 

The day is still on, it’s not dark, it’s not night,

maybe it’d be off if one jumped-off

a bluff, a building, a bridge. 

But, the day is still on, 

the time still ticks. 

In her pajamas, a girl runs down, 

down the stairs, where her mother sits, 

folding the laundry on her day-off. 

“Mama! Mama! 

Can we go to the sandpits?”

There was work to be done 

and to run 

was not on the many 

checklists 

screaming to be marked-off.  

In a sweater and jeans, a man lays, 

lays on the dying grass and the autumn leaves, 

analyzing pointless graphs, on his day off. 

He tried to share laughs 

with the ants and the bees, 

but no he must please 

the man with the checks 

to pay for his duplex. 

Each person climbs 

the endless mountain of 

responsibilities and possibilities 

for only a few dimes. 

But the two rest on opposite sides 

and reaching them both 

may require some guides. 

A day-off, yes, a day-off. 

to tire oneself 

up the mountain without a point.