If I’m not Mother’s grunt I’m my lover’s

If I’m not painting the deck or hacking weeds,

I’m painting the bathroom, replacing an exhaust fan,

or trying to get Charlie’s stink

off the patio

I’ll get back to you: Chekhov, Pascal, History

of Calculus

You’ll get back to me: Polyhymnia

I’ll get back to you: abstract heart, whose organic

counterpart is at another crossroad

Systolic: 180

Diastolic: 90

Alcohol: I’ve cut back

Salt: I don’t add it

I’m gobbling blueberries by the handful