Efficiency

by Cheryl Merrick

Beginning my day
     accomplishing household tasks,
     I hoped to be more efficient,
but soon found that
     I could do no more
     than ponderously plod.

Thinking a sedentary activity
     would be more productive,
I tried to “get something done”
     on the computer,
but a fuzzy mind, clumsy fingers,
     stiff neck, and jangled nerves,
     soon convinced me otherwise.


Through meditation,
I desperately sought
      to regain my slipping balance,
but quietness
     had departed from my soul.

Head aching,
      frustrated, and exhausted,
I stumbled into the evening
     vowing to be less “efficient”
     tomorrow.