The Daily Boost #622

Must you really get everything done?

IF YOU GET EVERYTHING DONE
Phil Kaye

"If you get everything done, you will be happy”
booms over the loudspeaker in your skull.

“If you get everything done, you will be satisfied permanently.”
The announcement rattles the break room between your jaws.

“If you get everything done, you will be worthy”— 
the broadcast loud enough to rattle free a bag from the vending machine.

“If you get everything done, you will be relaxed. 
Visualize how relaxed you will be.
Now stop, get everything done.”

Your legs move, two inverse cranes somehow building upward,
always higher, mumble to each other fantasies of sweat, salt, a body of water,
how they are not built for this, moving an island from place to place.

“No, of course not. Your body has a place here.
Perhaps you’d like a standing desk, a lap around the room,
jumping jacks, even, we encourage.”

“Sit-ups are the answered emails of the stomach.
That goes for everyone. Need a break? Feel free to switch it up.
Try a different productive task.”

“Wash the dishes. Take out the trash. An informative podcast.
Rejuvenation is productivity spelled backwards.
Ha ha! Jokes are invigorating. 
Aren’t we all having such a great time?”

“If you get everything done, you will be valid."

"If you get everything done, you will be undeniable.”

“If you get everything done, the ocean becomes calm.
The tide will never break over the seawall.
The lightning, exquisite and dangerous, never reaches the shore.”

“If you get everything done, you will have it, finally.
A tight canvas, a set of untouched oils,
a hand not speaking a foreign tongue,
the invitation for a new self-portrait in the empty hours.”

“Hurry, you’re almost there.”


(Text prepared by me, based on a transcript provided by YouTube.)

(My thanks to Phil Kaye via Button Poetry.)

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