To Do Or Not Do Do

To Do Or Not To Do? by Odin Roark To do or not to do? That is the question He asks each and every slow day And He is slow One-finger typing Today’s beginning Anticipating Today’s ending In between He will stroke his cat Gaze out the window at passing cars Occasionally caress the faded photo His beloved past Forever vibrant Sometimes He listens to Debussy The turntable periodically pausing Reminding him slowing down Doesn’t mean the end By mid afternoon His book is open Another page to edit Perhaps two Then He pauses Does nothing Minutes pass Sometimes Hours He dwells on early day attempts When sun’s first rays are so promising Trying to get things done You know Things that others tell him Need doing Late afternoon appears He often takes a slow walk The institution’s grounds are friendly Tree and bush greet him Offering as usual Peace No demands The leafy details move gently Some lose their grip Fall to the ground Some days so many sadly fall He often considers gathering them Transporting them back to his room Dying alone seems… Another day closes down Sun finds sky’s end His one-finger typing Finds little to say some days Years pass slowly Like his one-finger typing each night But He is thankful Knowing continued life Offers so much not to do Leaving him the time Not to do it in