Cleaning House
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(“Tapestry”, 2025, original encaustic)
Cleaning House
Today I clean my study for the first time in years.
I didn’t really choose to do it
But we have ductwork being cleaned in the morning
And no one else seemed to be volunteering.
So I stack and sort
Dust and discover stuff I’d long forgotten.
It feels good to make some space
And it reminds me how glad I am to be alive,
Glad to have the stuff I have
With time to enjoy and study it all some more,
And glad I’m not leaving it all like it is
For my daughter to deal with.
But I know it’s wishful thinking to think
My mortality is assured to enjoy or avoid
Those choices for long.
Eventually the room will become cluttered again
And I’ll leave it to my heirs as it is
Before enjoying it all as much as I’d hoped.
That is the nature of Life after all
There is always more to do
And so little time.
But each moment isn’t like that at all,
As we do them moment by moment,
Each complete and whole and timeless entities
Like a cresting wave, just as it is, in a sea
Of endless waves.
Somewhere in this sea
There is a point of view I call me,
Surfing you could say
Treating it all like a game,
I start over and over
As if I have all the time in the world.
I know this is just a recurring dream
But I keep doing it
Putting off the house cleaning,
Postponing the deeper studies
Until something forces my hand
And once again I’m enjoying Life,
Not just in the moment,
But in the whole
A life I can celebrate as endless
And mortal.
(9/11/25)
Copyright © James Moore | Year Posted 2025
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