Life's Work

Did I say I was a creature

of habit?

I meant the opposite.

I meant behavior

is a pile of clothes

I might or might not wear.

Before all the sowing and reaping

could go on for centuries,

before the calendar,

I must have been convinced

that my movements

were both mandated

and blessed.

I've never been an old woman

knitting by a fire

but I've played one

in images

where it meant being foolish

or wise, a mistress

of distraction's

indirection.

To rock while entwining

is life's work,

but I am reckless,

restless

Copyright Credit: Rae Armantrout, "Life's Work." Copyright © 2015 by Rae Armantrout. Used by permission of the author for PoetryNow, a partnership between the Poetry Foundation and the WFMT Radio Network.

Source: PoetryNow (PoetryNow, 2015)