guilt & time

there’s always this lingering
sense of inadequacy
for most poets writers artists
there’s never enough time
to produce as much as we want
or if we stumble upon
unused time
if we don’t use it wisely
to leave a written legacy
to leave the art world a better place
the guilt creeps in
no not at the moment we chose
to waste time
to read a people or enquirer magazine
to watch america’s top model
or the girl’s next door
to take a nap before bedtime
but the next day
as we look at picture frames left empty
poetry manuscripts in an untouched pile
paint brushes and exercise machines
gathering dust
that creepy little guilt
that is small enough to get run over
the next time we indulge ourselves
in the pleasure of nothingness
only the guilty would call it
laziness.


--snake