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Routine

Text of Poem

Morning after morning you awake from sleep
and grope in the closet for clothes to wear,
groggy and blinded by the morning light,
owner of a heartbeat and a breath of air.

You wander from the bathroom still doubtful of the day
to button up your shirt and settle in your clothes,
you smell the toast and coffee that your wife prepares,
instinctively you find the hall and follow your nose.

A clock-instructed radio blares the morning news,
you fumble with the paper at the table as you eat,
but now you start to hurry, gulp your food and drink,
the clocktick in your mind is a loud drumbeat.

You find the street you travel to office, lab or shop,
the work you finished yesterday rides with you as you drive,
with never time to stretch and say, thank God I breathe,
or tell your heart, good work old man, we’re still alive.

First Line
The boy drowning under waves
Original Pub Location
Original Publication Date
1972
Original Citation
Aspen Times (3 Aug. 1972)
Complete Poems
387
Hearst Collections
Word Count
153
Variant

Different version of "Routine" published in 1979

Poetic Form
open
Bibliographic Notes

Included in "Unpublished" section of Snake despite prior publication.

Themes
Twitter Quote
A clock-instructed radio blares the morning news, / you fumble with the paper at the table as you eat,