Life's Work Poem by Rae Armantrout

Did I say I was a creature
of habit?

I meant the opposite.

I meant behavior
is a pile of clothes

I might or might not wear.

Before all the sowing and reaping
could go on for centuries,

before the calendar,
I must have been convinced

that my movements
were both mandated

and blessed.


2

I've never been an old woman
knitting by a fire

but I've played one
in images

where it meant being foolish
or wise, a mistress

of distraction's
indirection.

To rock while entwining
is life's work,

but I am reckless,
restless