This, Your Defiant Day

There are days when the work must be left undone;
the papers unwrit, the envelopes unlicked.

There are days when the dishes must stay in the sink;
the rice left to stick to the pot's bottom.

There are days when you need to put on a flannel dress and lace-up boots and go
without music, without route.

There are days the calendar must be left unread
and the quilt must stay sprawled about the bed
as you left it when waking for
this, your defiant day.

These are the days for dancing in daylight
and dreaming in waking-life.

It is a day for boots laced tight
running
away.