I Meant to Do My Work Today - Carrie Newcomer

I meant to do my work today

So many plans I had made

I’d check the mail, I’d make the calls

Save the world and sweep the hall

Finally get my accounting done

Sort the beans one by one

But I got waylaid by the morning sun

And I got absolutely nothing done

I thought I’d live a louder life

I’d learn a lot and get it right

I’d rent a loft, I’d drink all night

I’d be a living archetype

And in a blinding flash of light

I’d see that one great insight

But silence called me deeper still

Like nothing else I know ever will

I woke to hear an owl nearby

Hunting something large enough to cry

Nature’s always beautiful

The change of season’s always right

The moon shines cold and true and bright

And sets at dawn without a fight

And yet, I could not find a way

To get myself back to sleep last night

I never knew just what it meant

The way you smiled while you dreamt

And why my heart can overflow

And why mistakes can haunt me so

Why nothing ever stops or stays?

Dust shimmers in the mornin' rays

I didn’t do the work that I had said

I just wandered through these thoughts instead