poem in progress

40 miles for Lent

g-d said
don’t give up
anything for me
girl, you need to give in
give in to you
give to you
I want you to walk
40 miles not for me
for you
walk 40 miles for you
remember who you are


mile 1

almost a week after Ash Wednesday
I am a slug
for five days I have been intending
pretending
excusing myself from myself
justifying my sluggy ways
with the noblest of justifications
work children sleep food

true, I have been eating less
I have been refusing seconds
I have thought briefly about ending
my torrid love affair with white sugar
revised the brief thought
consider simply reducing white sugar
to a bit part
knowing chocolate is mostly sugar
knowing my daily coffees are mostly about sugar
knowing my sugar love affair is really an
addiction
that gets me through my perform!do!give!do! day
after day after day

today, I walked a mile with Fran
I would not have gone if not for her
love for motion and acceptance of slugs
a break at work
on a trail half plowed
three quarters into it
I finally saw the trees
the bluebirds

took a deep breath

it is February not yet Spring
still
I begin




copyright Barbara L. Walker 2010