March 24, 2026

If I Were You

 (from 2001, revised 2026) (c)


If I were you

I’d quit cooking—let dust rise

and film the TV screen.

 

I’d make friends

with the spider spinning webs

between the Bromeliad and the window jamb.

 

Quit shopping.

Eat up the reserves—.

frozen peas one night,

a can of olives the next,

until only baking soda remains.

 

Tell your inner-authority to get lost.

Do whatever you want on Friday night—

read a book,

write a play about acne in fifty parts.

rollerblade through the Living room. 

 

Hell, clean the damn house

if that’s what you really want! 

 

If you let a man

into your space—

 

make sure he earns it.