The Last Task

It’s never content,
Never a substance
And yet it’s always

Coordination.
Give yourself a task
To finish this day,

Done before sunset.
Notice, as shadows
Grow longer out there,

How tempted you are
To think of your task
In terms of volume

Of remaining time.
The sun is setting.
The stars are waiting.

Time is running out.
But it’s not—never
Was any amount.

More events add on
To the long accounts
Of what has happened.

No, you need to link
Daylight to the task
You meant to combine,

To synch up—you need
To coordinate.
You tell yourself this

As you watch the light
And start to notice
That you’re arguing

The point with no one
Substantial, while sun
Has pulled back the drapes

To open the night,
And in these stanzas,
Each part of your life,

You’ve never quite asked
The main thing—just clean
Forgotten the task.