1. To Do List
Wake up earlier
Spend less time online
Spend more time outside
Every day, do something that scares you
Take more deep breaths
Realize you can't control certain things
Dance naked to 90s music when no one else is home
Meet new people
Meet old people – they have better stories
Listen to more people's stories
Learn to see things from different angles
Learn to look for Better Angels
Wake up earlier
Spend less time online
Spend more time outside
Every day, do something that scares you
Take more deep breaths
Realize you can't control certain things
Dance naked to 90s music when no one else is home
Meet new people
Meet old people – they have better stories
Listen to more people's stories
Learn to see things from different angles
Learn to look for Better Angels
Walk more
Drink more water
Drink less caffeine
Don't leave the coffeepot on when you leave the house
Be more aware of your bad habits
Be more patient with others' bad habits
Seek something every day
- even if you don't find what you're looking for,
at least you won't have wasted the day
Don't start smoking – despite what you may have heard
about what it does for stress
Worry less -
about what you can change
Change what you can
Stop writing cliches
Stop blaming your inaction on your home town
or your parents
or your emotional instability
Take responsibility for your inaction
Read more often –
you have books you haven't touched, ever
Write by the water –
the white noise of river helps you think
Return more favors –
people have been kind to you
Be kind to more people
Don't small talk –
small talk is for small minds
Don't ruin a good conversation by talking too much
Make something every day
(art, love, decisions, etc)
Go to bed earlier
***
2. Short Poems About Our New Neighbors
Across the court yard
The amorous twentysomethings
Open their window for the first time
They let the sun shine in -
They do not believe in curtains -
They let the sunshine in
He is Adonis
She is Mona Lisa
I hate them so much
It’s five in the morning
Our child screams us awake
Meanwhile, they sleep until noon
Passing by the window
I glimpse at the lovers entwined
“Not tonight” you yawn
Our friends are laughing
About what, we cannot tell
All we see is their love
He brings her breakfast in bed
Maybe it’s a birthday present?
Or he really screwed up
They’ve become background noise
Only witnessed in passing
Or referenced in our idle conversation
A few weeks have passed
Their room is empty and still
We almost forget they were ever there
She sits on her bed and stares at nothing
She has not moved for hours –
A lonely still life
Adonis is waning
His eyes are sinking, and he’s losing hair
He’s become a walking skeleton
He does not move much these days
All of the time, she waits by his side
For whatever comes next
I keep telling you
That he will soon recover
I have to believe this
He's sitting up today
Telling jokes and laughing,
She's cracking that famous smile
The room is now full
With what must be family and friends
Saying their goodbyes
She is being cradled
by, I think, her mother – or aunt
We weep along
The guests are now long gone
The silence settles like dust
She holds his hand while he fades
Soon, it will be just her (and us)
Left in this quiet room
Alone
Drink more water
Drink less caffeine
Don't leave the coffeepot on when you leave the house
Be more aware of your bad habits
Be more patient with others' bad habits
Seek something every day
- even if you don't find what you're looking for,
at least you won't have wasted the day
Don't start smoking – despite what you may have heard
about what it does for stress
Worry less -
about what you can change
Change what you can
Stop writing cliches
Stop blaming your inaction on your home town
or your parents
or your emotional instability
Take responsibility for your inaction
Read more often –
you have books you haven't touched, ever
Write by the water –
the white noise of river helps you think
Return more favors –
people have been kind to you
Be kind to more people
Don't small talk –
small talk is for small minds
Don't ruin a good conversation by talking too much
Make something every day
(art, love, decisions, etc)
Go to bed earlier
***
2. Short Poems About Our New Neighbors
Across the court yard
The amorous twentysomethings
Open their window for the first time
They let the sun shine in -
They do not believe in curtains -
They let the sunshine in
He is Adonis
She is Mona Lisa
I hate them so much
It’s five in the morning
Our child screams us awake
Meanwhile, they sleep until noon
Passing by the window
I glimpse at the lovers entwined
“Not tonight” you yawn
Our friends are laughing
About what, we cannot tell
All we see is their love
He brings her breakfast in bed
Maybe it’s a birthday present?
Or he really screwed up
They’ve become background noise
Only witnessed in passing
Or referenced in our idle conversation
A few weeks have passed
Their room is empty and still
We almost forget they were ever there
She sits on her bed and stares at nothing
She has not moved for hours –
A lonely still life
Adonis is waning
His eyes are sinking, and he’s losing hair
He’s become a walking skeleton
He does not move much these days
All of the time, she waits by his side
For whatever comes next
I keep telling you
That he will soon recover
I have to believe this
He's sitting up today
Telling jokes and laughing,
She's cracking that famous smile
The room is now full
With what must be family and friends
Saying their goodbyes
She is being cradled
by, I think, her mother – or aunt
We weep along
The guests are now long gone
The silence settles like dust
She holds his hand while he fades
Soon, it will be just her (and us)
Left in this quiet room
Alone
