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A Day in The Life
by Ken HarnischNo philosophy please
Until the first coffee
Of the morning has lapped my cup
And I have sugared it and milked it
And sipped it
And I have picked up some random something
To read and cursed the powers
That took from me half my fortune
And made my tomorrows more fretful
Than anyone’s had need to be.
No ruminations on love
Until the prosaic is out of the way
And I have fed the cats and taken
Out the garbage and made
My lunch, and put it away
In an insulated bag to be eaten later
While I listen to all news, all the time
In the sanctuary of my car.
People stroll into my head
All day and ask me questions
That outside this place
Would mean nothing in
Any context at all. Yet, the work
I do is vital to the work they do
And the work we all do
Allows me to go home at night
And wonder if the work I do
Means anything at all.
No crosswords or Sudoku, please
Not while the blanket of night is so warm
And the numbing blue of the television light
Flickers on my resting face, and I dream, when
I dream at all, of waking up tomorrow
And filling my cup with the first coffee of
The morning. It seems redundant, yes,
But it is late, and I am too
Old to be confused by complications. 02/17/2009 Posted on 02/18/2009
Copyright © 2024 Ken Harnisch
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Gabriel Ricard on 02/18/09 at 03:54 AM I really like that first stanza. The imagery and tone are just dead-on terrific. |
| Posted by George Hoerner on 02/18/09 at 12:28 PM I love the write Ken as it is right on! And it is had been said, "without coffee, there is nothing". I'll give up my smoke, maybe even sex, well maybe not, but with out coffee I will sleep the sleep of the dead, which is rapidly approaching anyway. So take the coffee too. |
| Posted by Melissa Arel on 02/18/09 at 04:33 PM Everything about this is great. I really really liked this one Ken :) |
| Posted by Sandy M. Humphrey on 02/18/09 at 08:40 PM Sometimes the routine is comforting and keeps us going especially when outside and around us chaos reigns...the rythm of this piece is soothing and comforting in a way that a steaming cup of coffee and looking out a window at the first light of day might be. smh |
| Posted by Joan Serratelli on 02/18/09 at 10:11 PM I wish my life as routine as yours. I hate wakin up not knowing what to expect. Very well expressed- I really enjoyed the read! |
| Posted by Alison McKenzie on 03/20/09 at 06:36 AM The way the words come sometimes...I've gotten out of bed in the middle of the night to write, to make them stop tap-tapping in my head, eager for release. Hehe. Glad to know I'm not the only one afflicted with that condition! |
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