All Caught Up

Too wrapped up
in life's draining details,
days slip away
like poems
imagined in bed,
gone before
they can even be
written down.

I will not
ever again allow
the rent situation
to steal the colors
of my days.

Thirty years
in a world
drained
of tints and hues
left me
greedy
for every shade
the earth offers.

Hummingbird
purple;
screaming sunset
pink;
deep, verdant tree
green;
floating, misty sky
gray;
the alabaster
white
of yielding
human skin:

these things
must never
be overlooked
merely
for money,
just to pay
the bills.

I want the earth
to paint me
like a canvas
with all the
tones and textures
creation exudes.

The rent
will be paid,
but I insist
on being
a poet
first.
  - mce