Putting it off
I first call Donna
And then Laura and then Andi in turn

I glance at it
Again, just to put it off, again
I call you and ask what makes art good

Don’t be smart
Is your advice for good art
You can be smart and do good art

Just don’t let
Your head get in the way
Otherwise it will not work and it won’t be good

I peek at it
As we chit chat about the other day
The dim sum experience and opposites

I tell you this thing
About her old experiences being new
To me, and you tell me about the stairs

And the parrots
I just remembered my dream
Had stairs in it, twice, and nothing about parrots

I check the words
But only listen more to your advice
To take a friend and go on the outing to the other side of Coit

What do I really
Want to do today instead
Of writing the paper and reading the assignments?

I want to talk to people
Or read the rest of 100 years
Of solitude and languish in the beauty

Of Gabriel’s writing
Not my own, uninspired drabble
About my part in the culture of a company

I take one last look
At what must be done, eventually
Knowing that it will swing and stay over my head like a blade

Slicing through the air
As it drops lower into the day
Until it can’t be ignored and until it cuts through my pleasure

You are telling me goodbye
As I am making up my mind about
What to do with this time and what not to do with this time

I don’t want to let go
Of the time that we share over the lines
But know that drawing is waiting and writing won’t wait