Caren Krutsinger Poet Free verse

I Want the Day Off

I want the day off to lie in the grass and
watch the deer in the distance.
I know it’s selfish, but I don’t care.
School can call a sub.
Other teachers have had them.
I can too. This one time.

I want the day off to paint a self-portrait,
to dance in the rain, to write a novel.
I want the day off, to find out if there is any “me” left.
I want the day off to not bring home papers.
I want the day off to not spend four hours grading homework.
Other teachers do it.
I can too. I will ask. I really will.

I want the day off, I tell my boss. I need it tomorrow
or Friday if it’s more convenient.
A Friday! She screams. No! Not a Friday!
Everybody calls in sick on Friday!
Please, if you really need it, take Thursday.
Thursdays are redundant.
Thursdays are normal.
Thursdays are easier days to get a sub.
What are you going to be doing?
What I do is not your concern, I say.

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Jennifer Proxenos October 4, 2019 at 6:37 AM The only time I have off is in the evenings and even then not for the past two months since we sold our big house in which my husband and I used only a quarter - so we decided to downsize considerably - had to sell,give and donate half our home - feel lighter somehow love the place we are going to which has a much smaller garden but which together with our gardener will make like the one I am leaving behind. Perhaps I'll get my evenings back when we settle down. Hugs and blessings, Jennifer. Caren Krutsinger October 4, 2019 at 8:42 AM Downsizing is such a RELIEF; it is like taking a cool shower after you get rid of all the stuff you thought you might use someday but never did. I am so glad for you! We have moved 37 times since we married.

Arturo Michael October 3, 2019 at 11:16 AM Then you take Thursday off...and make it a Caren's Holiday Caren Krutsinger October 4, 2019 at 1:05 AM I did not even consider it this week. The boss was gone and I played with words every second I was not teaching or helping tears go away.

Heidi Sands October 3, 2019 at 10:45 AM Enjoy your day off as it happens Caren! Great one :) Caren Krutsinger October 4, 2019 at 1:06 AM I was kind of "dreaming of a day off" - not actually taking one of them yet. I prefer taking them in January as my asthma is triggered by cold weather and to be outside in weather under 30 degrees is practically a death sentence.