I know I am an optimist
because I am always pleased
when the house is tidy
surveying it
like the conqueror
of somebody else’s land
and I believe it will stay that way
that I am not Sisyphus
that the boulder
will not fall again
and when your dad sings from downstairs
there’s somethin’ dead or dyin’
in our fridge
in his best Neil Young voice
I know that I will simply hunt down the soft lump
throw it away
and we will never waste food again
and when your sister
takes all the clothes off the hangers
while I am folding laundry
and you yell
it’s a emergency
because you meant to print
one copy of the Snow White picture
but for some reason it printed 60 copies
and we can’t get it to stop
I just lay down on the floor
and let the rhythm of the printer
soothe me
like a heartbeat
I know
it will be different
tomorrow.