Number your days

-Lois Barr

count the omer

            if you can

remember your friends

remember the ways

they tickle your fancy

relish in their good taste

            and bad

listen to their stories

with both ears and

both hands

            open

number your days

write one hundred

things to do before you die

rip your list

            to shreds

do what you’re doing now

listen to the Fidelio Overture

measure flour

cup by cup

            sift with care

number your days

and be grateful

for this rainy day

that germinates seeds

or a sub zero day

that freezes microbes

            numbs your face

count the beat of a tune

with the palms of your hands

or the heels of your shoes

count the grains of rice

            in a risotto

            count

the creases

on your husband’s foot

            count